


Don't Go, Kitty Kitty

by eravicis



Category: Miraculous Ladybug and Cat Noir
Genre: And oh lots of beautiful angst too, Drama, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Especially about a ship you can't stop shipping, Eventual Fluff, Eventual Smut, Everything you need in a fic tbh, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Intense Kissing, Lots of sexual tension, Romance, Sexual Tension, Teen Angst, Teen Romance, lots of kisses
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-04
Updated: 2016-02-26
Packaged: 2018-05-11 16:45:08
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 22,950
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5633863
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/eravicis/pseuds/eravicis
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Two years have passed since Marinette's initial crush on Adrien and both of them have considerably grown. Heartbroken from a rejection that really wasn't one, the two meet once more as their "weaker" selves... at 16. Is this fate between the two rising stars? M for future content.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Renewal

**Author's Note:**

> I just wanted to write them all mature (HA!) but still on the cusp of hormonal teen-hood. -snickers- Tho, let me know how I do since I kind of died near the end with my sleepiness... I just really wanted to jump on this bandwagon of beautiful. I'm just posting this everywhere tbh.

It's been two years since she had moved on from Adrien and as much as she wished she didn't, she knew she had to. It was an infatuation, she reasoned; puppy love and it wasn't anything more. He never looked so much as looked at her and he only became more famous as time progressed that it became harder to even catch a glimpse of him. Only Nino ever had much interaction with the famous model, now turned actor, that Marinette had little to no chance at all to see the celebrity.

Her feelings eventually dwindled, though she wasn't entirely sure of the cause. Maybe it was the lack of his presence or that she had heard rumors of him finding a girlfriend in Chloe at last.

It was disappointing and heartbreaking.

Without him around to confirm or deny the allegations, her imagination became her nightmares and eventually she cried and cried until she could no longer feel. Numb and heartbroken, she decided that it was best to move on and that she would cheer for him on the sidelines.

And that was a year and a half ago.

Since then, she's moved on to her focus of her clothing fashion line. Her numerous attempts at entering the many contests (to distract herself) that the school offered gave her the publicity that she needed. Her talent was recognized that between her hero time and designing time, she honestly had little to no time to herself to even think about Adrien. Chat Noir, however, was always a constant companion. His quirks and never ending puns remained the same. But he seemed to have grown just as she had. His shoulders grew wider and broader with his chest being stronger than she remembered it to be during one fight with a particular akuma. His voice deeper and smoother in a way that made her stomach do strange flip flops and warm something she isn't entirely sure of what it was.

It's not as if she hadn't changed in the two years either. She filled out in more ways that made her more womanly than child - like that when she asked Tikki how long was it that she is to be Ladybug. Though the question isn't really answered, she figured out that it probably have to do with Hawkmoth. The moment their enemy is defeated, it is highly likely the abilities is transferred to another. But who knows when that might be.

With this, her train of thought lead her to wonder if Chat Noir still loved her after all these years. Is his devotion to her out of genuine affection as he said it was or was it because they had just unwavering faith in one another that they would always be partners as well as the best of friends?

Though, she snorted at the thought, for a pair of "best friends", it was strange to think of them as such when they barely talked about their other lives outside of their hero work. Sometimes, just _sometimes_ , does she hear about the things that was happening with him, as if it was a slip of the tongue; for seconds later, he hastily apologizes in a way that resembled someone familiar. She was guilty of the same thing, and through their time together, she had picked up that his family life at home was rough and cold and that he was very well off despite that. Though she had been absolutely careful to not say a word about her own life, her broken heart toward a certain male finally leaked through in a manner of vague and strangled whispers and could no longer hide.

He had asked if he knew who this person was that had broken her heart and she smiled rather tearfully, "I suppose it doesn't hurt to tell you since he's busy. It was Adrien Agreste. He..." She took a deep, but ragged breath, "but he didn't even know I existed."

She never got to see the shocked or dumbfounded expression on his face. Akuma attacks came then and interrupted their serious conversation. And then even after that, they never really had an opportunity to talk so personally again.

Undergoing vigorous and serious attacks continuously meant they were pushing their powers to the limit every day... it was exhausting. Eventually, the confession was forgotten, at least to her, and their partnership somehow remained the same. Nothing really changed despite the changes to their physical form.

"Marinette! You won! You won!"

Snapping out of her thoughts, her oceanic blue eyes darted to the screen backstage where the model she had dressed up was standing at the head of the runway with the host cheerfully announcing the result. Alya ran over to Marinette with a squeal and held her close as she looked dumbfounded at the screen. With a nervous giggle, she held her best friend back and their disbelieving laughter fell quiet. The host continued with words and details of what the actual prize was.

She blinked.

Maybe she wasn't hearing it right.

But it sounded like she said that the winner of this fashion contest will be able to work on the set of the upcoming movie, _Game of Magic_ , and be an assistant on the competitive television show of the top fashion designers, _The Star Project_. Though Marinette never watched either of those shows, given her rather busy schedule between designs and hero time, she had seen glimpses of the show throughout the city and and whenever it happened to make its appearance on TV at home. But otherwise, the hero was very excited to finally be with the big names of fashion and the design and looks of costumes. She really was making a name for herself and she was rather quite proud of how far she had come.

"Come on girl! You won! Go collect your prize!" Alya said with a push.

Unable to hide her excitement any longer, it bubbled to the surface with a spring in her step as she went to pick up her trophy and paper certificate. After saying a few words of thanks and a quick wave, she runs off the stage with unbridled happiness and a brilliantly dazzling grin when she met up with Alya.

They squealed and screamed together in excitement. Quickly cleaning up after herself and collecting her winning dress from the stage organizer, they set off.

"We need to celebrate! Come on, let's go!"

Marinette followed after her, placing the bags and bouquets onto the backseat next to her of Alya's mom's car. "How'd it go girls?" her mother inquired.

"Marinette won!" Alya gushed quickly before Marinette could even get a word in. "Oh you should've seen it mom! It was absolutely fantastic and she put the other dresses to shame with her unique design! The judges couldn't stop mentioning the beautiful and detailed handiwork of the dress she made."

"Alya, come on, the other dresses were just as beautiful," Marinette interjected. She sighed, raising a brow and leaned back into the seat with the cross of her arms. "You're giving me too much credit."

"Am not! You owned that show," Alya said with a quick glance back. She faced forward, squealing, "I mean! It was a Ladybug inspired piece! How could I not love it? I mean, she's all the rage now that she's matured over the years. The boys are all over her and man, has Chat Noir just really—"

"Stop." A hand was raised to emphasize her point. Another shake of her head when Alya turned back to her with her own uplifted brow. "I've only seen your LadyBlog gush about him more times than I can count… I don't think I want to hear more."

Quite frankly, Marinette was sure that she's heard enough of it. She was already growing aware of how much he was turning from a boy, like she was a girl, and into a man. He was already stronger than she was in terms of prowess, but when he was compared to her as Ladybug, it was obvious that she was the more "powerful" one as she was the one with the ability to turn everything back to normal and undo the damage that had been done. But still, to think of her partner in that fashion was almost strange. It was a platonic relationship… at… best. With an inward shake of her head of the past where she had kissed him once, her relationship _had_ to remain the same. It was one of the few things that kept her life on track with how fast things seemed to be progressing.

The conversation was dropped and Alya decided to continue talking about the show to her mother in vivid detail, much thanks to the journalist in her to remember every minute thing. Especially since they were in high school now, it meant that she ran the school paper and was the leading writer and editor despite her age.

The rest of the night passed in a blur of a surprise, congratulatory party by her parents and a majority of her classmates. It was an awesome party, filled with many hearty laughs and curious questions of what she will do next and when can she claim those prizes. After answering the questions to the best of her abilities, the party eventually became too much and she excused herself to her room to finally wind down with a plop onto her bed. The lead up to the fashion show had been exhausting and she worked tirelessly to get the lineup done. But the winning dress hung on her closet door, covered by plastic to keep the dress in its pristine condition aside from being worn once.

Getting up from her place on her bed, she lifted the dress off of the door and gently stroked it, holding it close to her with a happy sigh and opened the door to place it neatly inside. Stepping back out, a shadow moved across her balcony that she walked toward it, pushing open the door and letting it close behind her. Looking around, she said, "I know you're there."

"Aw, come on, I was _purr_ fectly quiet!" A head of blond hair popped from over the rooftop and hopped down onto the balcony. He leaned against the railing with his arms crossed that the pout on his lips was evident. "Are you honestly too used to the idea of me just dropping by?"

Marinette swallowed a laugh. Light banter with him like this made it easier since his affections was elsewhere and they quickly became the sort of friends that she couldn't feel for him when she was Ladybug. In fact, it was probably similar. Only, Chat Noir wasn't confessing to her every minute that he could.

She crossed her arms and quirked a brow, mimicking an action that he normally did with a smirk, "You think so?" A musical laugh finally broke free and she smiled. "Yes, honestly; I look forward to your visits," she admitted with her eyes alight with amusement. But it dimmed slightly in confusion, "But why are you here? You normally don't stop by until much later."

He relaxed his stance and the pout was replaced by a smile, "I wanted to congratulate you on winning that contest!" The grin widened in genuine happiness for the girl. "You did a wonderful job on making such a beautiful homage to Ladybug."

She placed her hands on her hips, sighing, but smiling despite his loyalty and care for Ladybug. Again, her question remained if he still did really love Ladybug after all this time or if this was just a show of pretense to keep things normal between the two of them. "Of course I did! She's been our hero for two years so it's only reasonable that a rising star in fashion would make something in her name, right?"

He grinned like a cheshire cat. "It's really beautiful! Will you wear it for me?"

Marinette stiffened. An action that normally isn't associated with Chat Noir sprung on her cheeks in deep crimson. "I-I… I don't think it'd fit me v-very well…" In fact, part of her worried that she would be too obvious to Chat Noir with the pattern of the Ladybug. Her gaze averted, she missed the expression that crossed his features.

"I think you'd look lovely in whatever you wear, Marinette."

"Chat!" she admonished, turning quickly to him to see the nonchalant and yet, genuine gaze.

He smiled lightly. "I mean it."

Marinette returned the gesture but it faded quickly when she leaned against the wall of her balcony. "Thank you, Chat, but I design clothes… I don't think I'm quite cut out to wear such beautiful clothes."

"Nonsense; you're a bright and pretty girl and anyone who says that you aren't otherwise are… are… well, they're wrong!"

Eyes lifted to the brilliant green that she blinked at the scowl on his visage.

"Thank you… Chat. That's very kind of you. I mean it — really."

He lifted a hand to his chin, looking thoughtful before daring to ask again. "Are you sure you won't try it on for me? The dress was really well done."

"I…" she sighed, straightening herself. "Fine, I'll show you what it looks like, but don't tell anyone else about this, okay? I've… never really worn my own pieces aside from the few I specifically made for myself. Hold on."

He nodded quickly.

Opening the door to her bedroom, she stepped inside to pull the dress out from the closet. Plucking out her sewing kit to adjust the size, she made temporary adjustments with pins. Stepping into her closet again, she closed the door partial way before slipping off her layers of clothes until she was only in her panties. Slipping on the dress, she wondered why she was even dressing up for Chat. After all, this was Chat…

Ignoring her better judgement, she zipped the zipper the rest of the way up. "You ready?" she called out just loud enough for him to hear.

"Whenever you are."

It sounded like he entered her room. Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves, she pushed open the door to step into the moonlit room that started at her feet and made its way up to her slightly curled long black hair. He was sitting on her computer chair, twirling in place before coming to a slow stop at her reveal. His eyes widen, blinking, but said nothing.

"S-So? H-How does it look?" she asked hesitantly, straightening out the dress the best she can. Again, her eyes are averted from his to avoid looking at his reaction. Even if he was wearing a mask that hid half of his face, for two years, she had learned how to read every subtle expression his beautiful eyes could make. Though, she would never admit it aloud that she thought them pretty nowadays and that it did things to her insides that she, again, had no idea of what they meant.

A creak came from her chair and her eyes lift to his feet, standing before her with a smile that reminded her of someone from a long time ago. He bowed his head to meet her at her level, canting his head with a smile that melted her insides and then sent her heart racing. Jeez, this is only Chat! Only Chat!

His fingers gently stroke her cheek, tucking back a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "... You're beautiful, Marinette…"

Her cheeks burned brighter and she looked away, terrified of what this new feeling was at such a sincere compliment.

That was when she heard the first beep or is it the first beep? She can't tell with how fast the blood was rushing through her ears in embarrassment.

Swiftly, she turned to him. "Is it time already?" she whispered.

He doesn't answer but instead said, "It's time I bid you goodbye, Princess." He took her hand in his, bowing formally to kiss the back of her hand. "Until another day and when that day comes, I look forward to seeing you in that dress again." He stood to his full height and he saluted with two fingers to his brow with a cocky grin. Silently, he pivoted on his heel and bounded out of the window.


	2. Unable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien had changed in the two years Marinette hadn't seen him and the cage continues to become smaller and smaller...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo… this chapter was going on 6,000 words of delicious Adrien monologue. So I split it in two. I'll post the other one in a little bit! Until then, enjoy!

Since the revelation a year and a half ago, Adrien had been unable to ask more about Ladybug's confession regarding her affections for his other self. It was _terrible_ that he was unable to ask because in his befuddlement, he wanted to know _why_ she liked him and how the world did he even break her heart. Adrien had been careful so that he wouldn't have anyone dislike him, even Chloe was still oddly needy of him. But after those words, he tried to attend class some more to see if he can figure out that there was someone in the class who was dejected from the said rejection. His "investigations" failed when the demands of his father grew with each passing week, making him unable to attend and being forced to be homeschooled so that he would at least get that piece of paper at the end of all of it.

And whenever he did get into class, too much time had passed that surely no one really felt the pain as keenly of the heartbreak as he did. How could he break her heart? How could he? Especially since all he wanted was her attention and he had it the entire time. This _entire_ time and yet, he had somehow rejected her. Rejected Ladybug! Surely, this must be punishment for something he did… for something he wasn't even aware he could be guilty of.

What was curious was that whenever he was able to attend class, he was always swarmed by his classmates with endless questions of his progression in the latest shows and interviews that Nino often had to step in to interfere and drag him away. Though, strangely, he noticed that only Alya and Marinette stayed in their seats and whenever his eyes made contact with Marinette's, her eyes always looked away from his. That instead of the usual stammering and embarrassed expression, it was as if she was… _avoiding_ his gaze.

That surprisingly _hurt_ more than he thought it would.

And _again_ , he _never_ got to ask if she was okay. Especially when Alya immediately leaned close and held her. What had happened while he was away? Did he do something wrong? Marinette had always been a good friend but this sudden shift was too different from what he was used to. Her normally sunny disposition suddenly seemed… lacking. When lunch rolled around, Nino immediately gravitated toward Alya and Marinette in Adrien's absence. (It probably also helped that he was interested in Alya…)

Awkwardly, he'd greet them hello, but Marinette's expression remained friendly and she managed to speak with surprising ease. He blinked in confusion as to _how_ she was able to talk coherently to him when before she was tongue tied. When the opportunity came for him to ask the many questions he had for her, she immediately would have something to do and excused herself in a polite manner that he could faintly understand.

Alya sighed then before glancing at the pair of them with a shrug. She followed after her and it would be around then that Chloe came with her fake smile and adoration.

He noted since then that there was a sense of melancholy that clung to her. Whenever he would glance at her in concern, her eyes were always staring blankly at her sketchbook or to the outside, the bright blue of a clear sky almost seemingly reflected in those doe eyes. She was… _different_.

Eventually, six months passed and they graduated from collège and headed onto lycée for the diploma that would signify their progression into adulthood. Again, with the many activities that his father had him do, it was next to impossible to even see his friends anymore. With the weight of duty to his father growing even heavier, that when the opportunity came for him to do an acting role, he took it as a chance of escape. He would still be working for his father's line of fashion and he would always be more comfortable modeling than he would be acting. And when it became too much of either, he'd escape to become Chat Noir, feeling free and without the shackles that held him down to "duty" and "obligation."

Still, that didn't change his kindness and the need to be well-loved by others. He remained that polite young model even as he grew taller, stronger, and became a man in his own right. As Chat Noir, he acted more reckless, more flirtatious as the need for affection grew and grew.

However, he remained the same with Ladybug and as ever protective. He respected her space that in the six month time period before he entered lycée, he noticed that she carried the same kind of melancholy he had been noticing on Marinette. What was more, at off times, it looked like her eyes had been red from…

Other times, her expression was distant, as if her thoughts had consumed her that even his puns didn't seem to incite her wrath or her usual snarky come-back like usual. In fact, he never forgot that confession and it had haunted him since the day she admitted it. Her beautiful blue eyes shimmering bright with held back tears as they looked down at the city of Paris.

She was beautiful.

Slowly, but surely, she changed and returned to her normal self that he was afraid of… afraid of bringing up the subject she mentioned that night. He was afraid to ask, terrified that it would make her that lonely and reckless hero she was so long ago.

He almost lost her once and it had been his fault.

Ladybug's eyes were red, tired from what he could guess was a mix of emotional and physical exhaustion. Still, her broken heart was felt when she became more reckless and less communicative with him as Chat Noir. With the frequency of Akuma attacks growing, she threw herself more into the fray without thinking like she normally did. His beautiful Ladybug wasn't… as strong as he thought she was. But that was why he was here.

He was her other half so that when one of her attacks went awry, he threw himself into harms way, and pulled her out of the way. Bracing for impact, he pulled her into his chest as they slid down the side of a building and bounced onto another building before rolling to a stop at the bottom.

"Ladybug, are you alright?!" he asked urgently. Setting her down on the ground, his hands held her shoulder and her waist and eased his grip.

Her eyes darted to him, blinking as if she had realized something. When he canted his head in question, genuinely concerned, she nodded, her voice painfully soft that he wondered if she truly was, "Yes… Thank you, Chat."

And just like that, they were taken from what he felt was a deeply meaningful conversation he could have had to combat the moment the streets behind them exploded. His chest burned with anger, hurt, and so many silent questions that he wondered if he would explode if these interruptions kept happening. Least to say, the akuma was taken care of swiftly that night. Especially when Ladybug parted with her usual nonchalance that he wondered if he had been dreaming about her vulnerability.

Not wanting to go back home quite yet, he gave some more cheese to Plagg to appease him before bounding off on the rooftops. He didn't want to go home and hear his next day's schedule or even the next month's schedule of how busy he was going to be. Full of social obligations and small talk with people that could care less about Adrien himself was draining that he could feel the cage becoming smaller.

In his wanderings and patrolling, he came across Marinette sitting on her balcony with her sketchbook in hand. Crouched on the rooftop from across the way, he watched her close the book and lean back into her seat. He hopped over to her rooftop and dropped down, scaring the daylights out of Marinette when she glanced up to the shadow. Her immediate reaction had been to silently scream and grab the nearest potted plant to throw at him, but when she saw who it was, her breathing calmed with her hand poised to throw it and her eyes narrowed.

"How dare you do that!" she exclaimed in exasperation. "I could've hurt you!"

"I doubt you can hurt meow very much," he said with a wink. Instead of the potted plant she had been reaching for, instead, she threw the pillow she had been holding onto at him. He laughed, catching the pillow with ease and carefully held it so that he wouldn't rip it with his clawed hands.

She crossed her arms, scowling, "Still, a potted plant would _hurt_ regardless." And then she softened, "What are you doing here anyway?"

The concerned tone was unused to from Marinette, especially when he was Chat, and part of him suddenly longed to be near her, to hear better her concern for him. But he remained at a distance, unsure if approaching her was the right idea.

Then again, he was Chat Noir right now and he wanted to do whatever he wanted right now. No rules, no rigid bars that caged him in, and no more endless questions that—

He sat down in front of her, her legs moving to cross where her arms relaxed and reached out to touch his arm. Chat turned his head to her, lifting a brow as he asked, "You know, I've been wanting to ask this for awhile now, but haven't been able to, but why are you sad?"

At least, he assumed so, given her rather melancholy attitude. By the look on her face, he had asked something that reminded him of his Lady and his brow rose higher. He remained concerned, however, when she looked away and frowned.

His hand touched hers, her eyes lifted to his and she bit her lower lip.

"I'm not sad, well, not anymore," she said hesitantly. "I've… I've moved on."

"Moved on?" From what?

"Y-Yeah," she said with a nod, not quite answering his question. "B-But rather we talk about me, let's talk about you… why are you here? You look… _tired_ , kitty. What's wrong?"

How did she know?

It was his turn to shift his head away and her hand squeezed his arm in comfort. He lifted his hand from hers and smirked at her with the tilt of his head, "Trying to change the subject? How very sly of you, princess."

"Kitty!"

"What? Would you like to do something else?"

"Don't make me spritz you with a bottle of water. I have one of those, you know," she sighed. "But look, you look tired and I was only…"

"Yeah, I know, but I'm fine, honest," he lied with an ease he wished he didn't have. He didn't want to lie to Marinette, especially since she was so genuinely worried about him. At least, that is, until he came up with an idea. "Though, I wouldn't mind…"

"Yes? Is there anything I can do for you?" she asked, leaning close.

"I could go for a hug."

There was silence and she withdrew with disbelief.

"What?"

"That's it?" she asked, incredulous.

He pouted now, "And? What'd you expect me to ask?"

She flushed, something he hadn't seen in awhile and realized that the color was rather becoming of her and something he actually almost _missed_. "W-Well, I-I-I didn't m-mean i-it by anything in p-particular!" she squeaked as her face continued to darken.

Something in Adrien made his lips curl in curiosity and he leaned close to her, his smirk widening, "Oh? And what exactly did you mean then?"

The pillow that he had been holding was grabbed by Marinette and she plopped it into his face, preventing his advance. He pulled away, blinking in surprise when the pillow dropped. Her face is the darkest he had ever seen her wear when she held out her arms. "O-Okay, fine. J-Just don't do that again."

He blinked innocently. "And that would be?"

"I swear, I will spritz you if you ask me dumb questions, kitty. Take it or leave it." Her expression was a mix of a pout and begrudged willingness to lend herself to him for a hug.

While it was amusing to see her more rebellious toward him as Chat Noir than to Adrien Agreste, part of him wished that she was this way when he was Adrien since this seemed more like her true self. Then again, it wasn't like they saw each other frequently with how busy he had become with both modeling and acting.

He grinned, taking this what he will and stood, offering his hand, "Not like that, princess, it has to be nice and proper of a hug rather one sitting down."

She made something incoherent of a noise before standing up in front of him and then repeated the action once more. Happily taking her offer, he wrapped his arms around her waist and wrapped his arms around her. So slender and thin in his arms that he felt her body immediately relax into his embrace. Almost like second nature, his face buried itself into the crook of her neck, squeezing her gently in the comfort that was offered to him. This was a platonic hug, he assured himself, nothing romantic. He didn't want to betray his unwavering love for his Lady, but there was something about this hug that changed him.

He felt her squeeze him and he nuzzled into her neck, inhaling the subtle scent of some kind of floral soap and freshly baked bread. She was so small and so tiny in his arms that he wondered just how long had it honestly been since he had seen the girl. Was it so long that in the months he had been gone that she became smaller or was it simply that he was the one that had continued to grow. Just how much time had passed in his cage that he didn't even notice the changes in his friends and in himself?

"Kitty, you're squeezing me too tight," she whispered after a few minutes had passed and he didn't realize he had been squeezing her. When he loosened his arms around her, she stopped him by squeezing him back with her arms around his neck. "No… let's… let's just stay like this for awhile. It's… nice."

"As you wish, princess," he murmured into her ear.

He had to admit, this was very… _nice_ and it was nice in a way that there were no words to describe the growing warmth he felt. Her touch was soothing away the frustrations of his day and the days to come. In fact, it was as if he could feel his aching heart calming down in a way that he hadn't been aware that had been sore. Marinette, the kind girl who smiled like the sun, was melting the ice that had been forming on his heart.

"Hehe, stop Kitty, that tickles!"

Adrien paused, blinking into awareness of what it was he was doing. Then he realized he had been nuzzling into her neck, his breath tickling the skin of her neck that caused another giggle.

Surprisingly, he liked hearing her laugh that it made him continue, her laughter growing. "Ki-Kitty!"

He held her tight, holding her hostage essentially, and continued his assault. Rubbing his face against the skin of her cheek and her neck, her laughter made him smile against her skin. "I wasn't aware that the princess was so ticklish," he said into her skin with the brush of his lips.

That was when she sharply inhaled, stiffening in place, and he stilled. What… What was it he had just done?

He pulled away and Marinette merely smiled hesitantly, gently touching the places where he had been rubbing against moments before. With her feet dangling in the air, they were level that she couldn't hide her embarrassment. The blush blossomed across her cheeks that Adrien smirked, leaning close.

With her hands resting around his shoulders, her blue eyes looked elsewhere as her embarrassment grew. "Ki-Kitty… I—"

"Don't you want to find out what that was?" he asked.

"I…" Her blush deepened before she shook her head, as if following through with her initial decision, "No, that's enough. Please put me down, Chat Noir."

"As you wish." Obliging her request, he loosened his grip on her and set her down on the floor. It was then that the beep of his ring came, signaling that it was time for him to head home. "Ah, though, might you indulge meow in something else?"

"Wh-What?" she asked almost begrudgingly, though she sounded distracted.

"To cheer up. You look better when you're smiling, Marinette."

Marinette blinked and then smiled, her shoulders relaxing. "Of course."

"Now, it's time for me to depart, my princess." He unlinked his arms from around her and stepped back.

She nodded, grasping her arm from behind, "I'll see you again?"

He bowed deeply, with his eyes remaining glued to hers, and then uprighted himself with an exaggerated swing of his arm to his back. Lifting two fingers to his brow, he jumped backward onto the rooftop before he gave a smirk and saluted. Then he turned and disappeared down the rooftops.

This was a year ago.

They have remained rather platonic as a pair, never stepping passed the little touches that seemed to occur. Adrien visited her whenever he felt too confined by the duties that bound him and found that the companionable silence that the pair of them shared was irreplaceable. Sometimes it was filled with snarky back to back comments and other times, the silence was all they needed, not feeling compelled to talk. Other than the hug that they shared that drew unwanted questions, it was easy for Adrien to discover that, like Ladybug, Marinette had been rejected by the subject of her affections, though who that was is unknown to him.

It was perhaps why they had remained the way they are for such a long time.

That is, until that night she dressed up for him in the dress that won her the contest.

A tea-dress that came to her mid-shins that had black lace and chiffon mixed with some kind of glittery material accented the many layers of the lower half of the dress. With a sweetheart cut of red with black polka dots and her hair down (it was down to her upper arms), she looked more like a princess than he had anticipated.

Something stirred in his chest and he realized she had been expectant and so worried. Despite her insecurities of her wearing a piece that was not something she had designed for herself, she was more lovely than he had ever realized. He had to tell her truthfully his thoughts and not bother with hiding himself behind facades and puns.

When he left, his mind wandered back to her expression and how glad he was that he had been the one that put that on her face.


	3. Notice

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien wasn't quite prepared to really notice that much about her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Part 2 of his monologues! I wanted to write that every other chapter was Adrien and then Marinette but his monologues... haha. I hope that tidbit here with Chloe is alright with you guys. I mean... 16 year olds... right...
> 
> And please, if you guys can, I'd love to hear your feedback on this! -Just plops this chapter here before regretting it-

A week passed and he was in his trailer on the set of  _ The Star Project _ , waiting for his "girlfriend" to make her appearance like she normally did. Part of him had regrets taking her on as his girlfriend, especially as his first, but he had been too lonely to really understand the full depth of what it was he was getting into. And as per the usual, he could hear her shrill voice piercing the exterior of the trailer that he pinched the bridge of his nose in hopes of preventing an eventual headache.

"Oh Adrien~" her voice sang as she flung the poor door open and stepped inside.

"Hello Chloe," he greeted, turning in his seat to see her sit rather pompously on the couch behind him. Sitting in front of the mirror, he had been getting ready for the next scene to be filmed later that afternoon. He and a group of his fellow models were to be used in this afternoon's challenge: to design clothes for teens of a particular theme. What the theme is, he had no idea, but he was hopeful it would be something anime-like. Well, that or something hero-esque or maybe even something fantastical. Though, he supposed, the new movie he was to be filmed in had that covered.

"How's my Adrien-poo doing today?" she asked, though he knew better than to assume she was asking out of genuine care for him.

He returned facing the mirror, where his makeup stylist was prepping him for his appearance, and he closed his eyes for her to continue. "I'm doing okay," he answered. But she sounded irked by the sound of her angry texting on her phone. She huffed once, twice, and probably almost grunted her frustration. "Okay, what's wrong?" he sighed, his eyes opening just enough to peek a glance in her direction.

"Did you know that Marinette is going to be on the set of  _ The Star Project _ today? She's going to be the guest judge on the show even though she's nowhere renowned as the other stars! And yet, she's going to be on the show?!" she screeched, standing up and pacing back and forth.

He rolled his eyes. Lately, his relationship with Chloe had been mostly of her venting her frustrations about whatever "low-life" she felt was worthless to consider. And since they had started "dating," it made it easier for her real personality to come to the surface. Since he had been exposed to the kindness that was Marinette, he found it tiresome whenever Marinette's name came up in the context that it was now. Though, he was still clueless as to why Chloe hated Marinette as much as she did. After all, Marinette had been nothing but kind to her, aside from the rare occasions where she had to stand up for herself in the face of Chloe's wrath.

"If you had entered the contest, then you would've been able to," Adrien remarked. And it's with Chloe that he started to learn how to have a backbone. Because, if he didn't grow up, then it was entirely possible that this cage will keep constricting him until he could no longer breathe. If his father cared only about his work, then Adrien will only care about his work. As long as he was the perfect son who stayed out of the gossip magazines, his father will occasionally share a congratulatory and short dinner. Maybe if he worked hard enough and became "good" enough for him to help with his brand, then maybe, just maybe, his father will finally look his way and be the father he hoped he could be.

"Adrien! You know how I can't  _ really _ design things! How dare you bring that up again?!" She continued her pacing and her rapid rant about Marinette. 

He resisted the urge to roll his eyes again and he glanced to the makeup artist with an apologetic grin that she shook her head, understanding.

"Chloe, why is it so irritating that she's on there? I mean, she won fair and square," Adrien said, nodding when the makeup artist finished off the last of the necessary makeup. Cleaning up after herself of her brushes, he shifted in his seat to face Chloe, his arm resting on the back of the chair. He lifted a brow, "And how did you even know what she's going to be doing anyway? A lot of the stuff on the show is hush-hush so that it would be a surprise to the viewers and the competitors."

She stopped in her pacing, looking offended that he had said such a thing with her hand dramatically at her chest. "And spoil my inside information? I think not!" Though he could only assume it to be Sabrina, "attached at the hip" and all, despite Chloe mistreating her. She crossed her arms with a scowl. "You have to do something about this Adrien!"

"And do what?" He stood up from his seat. "What do you expect me to do?" Adrien gave a weak and thankful smile to the makeup artist and returned his attention to Chloe.

"Well, you're supposed to be the 'knight' right? To me especially?"

It was his turn to cross his arms, his eyes narrowing. "Chloe, you haven't answered my question."

He wished he didn't have to argue with Chloe, who had been "there" for him since he was small, but her demands had gotten worse since they started dating. They were non-stop requests of all the women who came into his life and the continuous need for him to always do as she said, no matter what. They weren't requests or kind gestures, no, but rather demands. She may be a politician's daughter but her endless commands were beginning to remind him of his father, who only gave such things.

She flinched. There was the recognition in her eyes that she had never seen Adrien so irritated before. But still, she stood her ground and apparently gave it no regard with the narrowing of her own eyes.

Chloe sneered, "What? Adrien finally grew a backbone?"

It was her disregard for him that saddened him, but he knew on some level, she  _ did _ care about him, even if it was for her own goals and ideals. His gaze became cool, almost unfriendly as he became the polite, distant Adrien that protected himself from her scathing glare that dared him to challenge her and her "rule".

He opened his mouth to say something, anything about their deteriorating relationship that was in no way healthy, but he didn't have to when a knock on the trailer door interrupted their argument.

"Adrien, you need to be on set in five!" The voice was muffled, but was clear enough that even Chloe could hear properly.

"I'll be right there!" he called back. It was only when the person left did he turn back to Chloe. Despite everything that was happening in their relationship, he still cared and wanted the best for her. His expression softened from the hardened polite expression, "I don't think I can keep this up anymore, Chloe…"

She blinked, her sneer vanishing into shock. Pure and undiluted shock. "Wh-What?"

"I… We'll talk later, okay? I gotta go." He turned away and moved passed her to the door, pushing it open. He began his walk down to the set, sighing at what he had just done. That even though he was aware his relationship with Chloe had been unhealthy and exhausting, she was still there when he had been at his loneliest. Even if it led to a regret that he carried with him, still, anything to  _ feel _ again was better than the pain that had threatened to eat him from the inside out when he had discovered he had somehow rejected the object of his affections.

It was when he turned down another hall that he walked right into a much smaller figure, did he finally awaken from his thoughts about Chloe and their arguement. A small voice squeaked their surprise that when he looked down, he realized that it was Marinette.

She tensed — just like she did those years ago and somehow, the thought made his heart ache  — and then relaxed when she realized who it was. Her familiar and comforting curving lips reminded him of all those times he spent with her as Chat Noir.

But he was Adrien now, not his alter ego, and immediately wished he could escape.

"Adrien!" She greeted him before he could. He could only awkwardly nod his head, blinking his surprise.

"Ma-Marinette?" He tried to sound bewildered, as if it was the first time in awhile he had seen her. After all, he had just seen her a week ago whereas seeing him as Adrien had been… oh man,  _ months _ ago.

She nodded, her smile widening. He glanced down and noticed she was wearing a simplistic red dress with a silver belt of intricate design around her waist. It reminded him of the adornment she had made for that Darby hat that had been inscribed with her signature. Matching her obviously handmade belt were five silver bangles on her left wrist. She wore modest red flats with a thin black ribbon accenting the top of her shoes around and a cute little bow at the top of her toes. Though, what surprised him was the subtle accents of makeup that made her prettier than he recalled. Long lashes framed her large eyes with a light blush caressing her cheeks. Of course, there was the slight shimmer of her lips that brought out her natural beauty.

"I didn't know you were going to be here," she said, canting her head. "Or is today's episode different?"

Her voice helped ease him out of his distraction and hoped he didn't seem like he had been staring. After all, it was the first time he had seen her so…  _ pretty _ . "Ah, they didn't tell you anything?" He scratched his head. He gestured for them to walk and talk. It was strange to see her in the same place he worked… where he worked! It's rare for him to see his friends working at the same place he did. "They're having us be the models for the clothes the challengers are going to make for us."

Her eyes lit with admiration. "Really? That sounds like fun! I mean, I wonder what it is I'll be doing."

Just then, a stage manager came over and asked Marinette to join him for their places. They led them to the edge of the set and asking them to stay there a moment. Left alone, Adrien returned his attention to Marinette.

She nodded to the stage manager and then turned back to Adrien with a giddy smile, "I'm so excited I'm on this show! And to be a guest judge is more than I could ever ask for!" Suddenly, she turned nervous, her fingers fiddling with each other. "Oh god, will I be okay? I mean, this is television right?" She began to ramble in a way that was familiar to him. She was always like this either around him as Adrien years ago that she was always flustered or when a big fashion contest was coming up. Though, unlike the latter, she was pacing.

He placed a hand on her shoulder, immediately feeling her relax beneath his touch. "Don't worry, you'll do wonderful. Just be yourself."

Marinette smiled gratefully, "Thanks Adrien."

"No problem." They stayed in silence together before the stage manager gestured to her to approach them.

Left alone, Adrien couldn't help but have the smile remain on his face, glad to have seen her again. There was something about her that made him  _ happier _ that she was near. But it amused him that she's so different with his two faces.

The rest of the day passed in a rush, from appearing on set and to being recorded live of what they were doing for the TV show. Apparently, one of the designers on the show was a big fan of the Agreste fashion line and became a designer because of it. He wasn't surprised since his father was also partially sponsoring the show. Anything for more publicity, he supposed.

It was fascinating to watch from off set Marinette's many expressions while she was conversing with the judges. When they showed her the previous works the designers had made before, she gave valid opinions and critiques (when asked) that showed in the dedicated two years she had to competing in the fashion industry. Her brows furrowed in deep concentration and voiced a tone of confidence that seemed terribly familiar. Even her gait and the way she stood seemed familiar. She even managed to get the judges to laugh at her seemingly witty remarks that matched an expression...  


He shook his head. Scratching at his slicked back blond hair, he sighed, wondering why he was making so many comparisons of Marinette to Ladybug. They bore similar traits, sure, but…

His thoughts stopped when a dazzling smile graced her features. He blinked and placed a hand on his mouth, leaning forward in his seat with his arms resting on his knees. His brows furrowed before he hid his face in his hands. He could feel his cheeks burn ever so slightly at the understanding that he  _ liked _ seeing that smile on her. Sure, putting it on her was one thing but seeing her have one made his chest tighten.

"Adrien, you're up in five."

He turned, facing the stage manager and nodded. Walking over toward them, they gave a once over.

"Are you alright? You look a little flushed," they asked with mild concern.

He shook his head, running a hand down his face. "No, I'm fine — just over… thinking on some things."

Their brow lifted in skeptical belief, but took his word for it. "If you say so." They gestured for the model to follow after them.

x-x-x

The show ended on a high note when Adrien came out last, dressed in black leather from head to toe. He was nervous since he seemed so similar to that of his alter ego, but was relieved that he didn't have to wear a half face mask. Instead, he wore armored leather pieces that gave him protection around his chest, abdomen, and his shoulders. Arm bracers covered his arm with form fitting pants and boots that came to his knees. A dark crimson half cloak was clasped around his shoulders, sewn partially onto his shoulders for stability in his movement, and was accented by thin golden embroidery and a golden clasp to keep it closed. A hood covered his messy blond hair, styled just right to fit the image, and left only his brilliant green eyes to gleam in the shadows. There was, of course, his belt that was layered by two belts: one for functionality and the other to carry his two prop daggers that slung behind him.

The compliments were well received when he did the choreography of "fighting" with another "class": a warrior. A fantasy inspired theme seemed to be tonight's challenge, revealing that inspiration can come from anything… even video games.

Adrien had never been so excited about his clothes before. Cosplay was something he always wanted to do, despite the fact his alter ego could be considered as such. What was more, the end reveal was that each of the costumes made tonight would be used in the upcoming film he was starring in:  _ Game of Magic _ . It had made the designers ecstatic that they would get more exposure for their work, even more than what they already had now.

"Adrien!"

He turned at the call of his name by reflex and then paused when he realized it was Marinette. Facing her, he stopped walking. "Yeah? Did you need something?"

Coming up beside him, she looked as if she suddenly had regrets calling out to him when she momentarily froze. And then she shook her head, steeling herself with a look of determination. "I uh…" she began when one of the judges called out to the pair of them.

Both turned to them and they discover that they were invited to a party on the far side of Paris that had the perfect view of the city and the Effiel Tower. There was something about the other models would be going as well and that as a bunch of rising stars in the industry of varying artistic degrees should socialize together.

Adrien and Marinette exchanged glances, before awkwardly nodding. Both were not such party people that they would jump at the chance to go join the glamorous world of…

"Good good! Come along now, we wouldn't want to be too late now!" She pushed them ahead of her.

"W-Wait, wouldn't I need to change out of my—"

"Ah," she paused, glancing at Adrien up and down in thought before placing her hands on her hips. "Well, yes, you should. Ms. Marinette and I will wait for you here while you get changed. What are you waiting for, go on!"

She waved him off and he sighed, rubbing the back of his neck with his fingerless glove. Headed off in the direction of the dressing rooms, Adrien dropped the hood to his shoulders and ran his fingers through his hair. Somehow, he felt that this might be a rather bad idea.


	4. Lingerie

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things go from good to bad to worse in the most surprising of ways. Marinette is perhaps wondering if this night would go well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp. Please drink responsibly guys and PLEASE, do share your screaming with me because I have no idea what the hell I was writing. If they're out of character, please, feel free to kill me for I have sinned.

 

Marinette was jealous. True, she had gotten over Adrien a long time ago, _sure_ , but the fact remained that she had always wanted to design an outfit for him. Especially since she had seen how well fitted he was now. Her mind was filled with ideas of the many outfits that she would design for him and that sketchbook that was still full and sitting in her bedroom was ready to set those ideas to life.

Raising a hand to her head, she watched Adrien saunter off in that rogue outfit that made her stomach do flip flops. He shouldn't remind her so much of Chat Noir since he was _definitely_ different from Adrien…

Or at least, she feels like he isn't.

She frowned, wondering why she felt a sense of apprehension while she was conversing with the judge. When Adrien returned dressed semi-casual in a light blue linen shirt with rolled up sleeves and a grey vest with a black belt accenting the dark blue jeans and black ankle high top sneakers, she felt like she was overdressed and was thrust back to when she was in their junior high years. But she swallowed her nerves and stood straighter, trying to channel her Ladybug self, and fell into step beside Adrien.

His hair was still messy and some of his blond hair fell into his face in a way that made her want to tuck it back. Biting her lower lip when they headed outside, he remained the gentleman by letting her enter the limousine first before following right after so that they sat beside each other in the back seat whereas the judge sat next to Marinette in the seat nearest her. The limousine had ambient lighting of continuously changing colors. There was a long singular window on the opposite side of the limo, giving them the view of the city flying by.

"You need to get ready for a party of the lifetime! All of the big stars are there so it'll be perfect for you to network."

Marinette raised a brow warily. A party wasn't necessarily a good place to network or was it something she came here to do. Though, she wouldn't mind per say to go to a party of what the celebrities go to with Adrien. After all, he was rather popular and being with him was better than being alone at something that seemed like an opportunity of a lifetime.

While Crystal, the judge, received a cellphone call, it left her and Adrien to themselves. She moved to the other end of the limo and Marinette stared out the window to watch the city buildings fly by.

"So, how are you doing? Anything new?"

She shifted in her seat to Adrien, smiling at his attempt for small talk. When was the last time she had a coherent conversation with him? Ah, probably a year ago and that was when they were graduating to high school. She tried to avoid thinking about how Chloé had been attached on his arm at that time and how her heartbreak had mended from raw and physical anguish to just a dull ache. Feelings… like that didn't quite go away after all, despite the two years since she had told herself that she moved on.

And she had! But it didn't help that Adrien was even more attractive than he had been before in a way that was difficult to explain. Though she could take a guess and assume that it's just her hormones acting up.

"I've been doing really good," she replied, leaning back into her seat. Her fingers linked together in her lap and her eyes remained locked to them. "To be honest, I've been so busy I was wondering when I'd even get time for myself!" She chuckled, thinking of all the times where she had to juggle sewing and designing to being Ladybug and then the odd moments that Chat Noir had stopped by. She didn't think she could be so… _happy_ to see Chat.

"Sounds stressful," Adrien nodded, taking on a look of understanding. "I could relate… but I'm sure you have a much better handle on it then I would."

She quickly shook her head, aghast at such a compliment and from Adrien! "Oh no! I don't! I just do what I can in the very cramped amount of time I do have." Especially when her kitty dropped by at the most oddest of hours and stayed to simply bother and pester her for an endless amount of attention.

Not that she minded, but she would never admit it aloud.

He chuckled, a hand to his chin in thought, "I think you do just fine, especially with how many contests you joined in this year alone."

She blinked in surprise, tilting her head in question. "You've been keeping an eye on me?"

His eyes widened in surprise before blushing, his eyes shot down to his lap, and scratched at his head, "Ah, er, Nino and Alya mention to me how much you do the contests that you're all they talk about. Well, aside from their talks of Ladybug and Chat Noir, but…"

She shook her head, turning away and crushing the feeling of hope she didn't know she had. Of course he wouldn't follow her exploits as an up and coming designer since he had Chloé to take up all of his free time.

But still, the disappointment was there and it surprised her that it was still there. "Oh, I see."

It was difficult to get back into her happy place again when she couldn't believe that she was still having this much trouble talking to Adrien after all these years. With how long she hadn't seen him, it should have been fairly easy to talk to him after two _years_ , but she supposed her first love would be the hardest to forget…

"Come on you two! We're almost there! You ready to party? Don't worry, security is tight and there'll be _some_ adult supervision." Crystal had ended her phone call and was pouring herself a glass of wine. After taking a sip, she smiled, "We're having a second fashion show at the mansion and of course, it's private." Her grin grew wider. "It'll be gorgeous with all of the models there and all. Ah, it's my private line so you'll get to see it before it's even released!"

Marinette had stars in her eyes. A private fashion show with Crystal was like a dream come true! Especially since her line of work was just as beautiful as Mr. Agreste's. If he dominated men's wear, then Crystal dominated the women's. "What kind of line is it?" Marinette found herself asking in excitement before she could even contain herself.

Crystal laughed, her beautiful features molded for that pretty smile of hers, "I like you, Marinette, I mean — you've got spunk, talent, and an eye for detail that will get you far." She took another sip. She glanced at Adrien, "And Adrien here is a beautiful face that will lead the way to a whole new line that will drive others to inspiration."

Marinette glanced at him, noting the curious expression she had never seen on him before. It seemed… _distant_ despite the polite curve of his lips.

"Thank you Crystal," he said. His smile seemed almost…

"Of course, you're perfect, as one would expect from Gabriel's son." She took another sip as the car came to a stop. The door opened next to Marinette and she glanced at Crystal for confirmation. "Don't be afraid, go on. I'll be right out."

Doing as she was told, she exited the limousine to an elegant and modern mansion with contemporary styles that angled out from the sides. Her eyes grew wide at the size of the front entrance of two glass doors where two uniformed stocky men of uniform buzz cuts bowed and allowed them entrance by opening the massive doors. They looked three times wide as she was and it was obvious that they were of all muscle. And turning her head down the driveway, she realized that the driveway was all the way down the hill to a gate of a wooded area. Her eyes continued along the horizon to notice that indeed, there was a beautiful view of the city of Paris and the Effiel Tower.

She felt a nudge on her shoulder, glancing up to see Adrien smile, and headed inside. Crystal smiled down at her as they walked forward. "For your question earlier, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you?"

Marinette nodded and looked around to see if she could find any familiar faces inside. But aside from a few people, everyone else were complete strangers. Once inside, they ushered off into different parts of the house. She couldn't see anything as Crystal continued talking about how cute she was being and that she could keep the clothes that Marinette was to wear.

"What? I'm going to be in the fashion show? Wai—" And then into a private room where she was helped into being stripped by a bunch of fellow women who assured her that nothing was wrong despite her protests, and helped her into unfamiliar… clothes (?) that made her chilly as it did not cover much of her skin. At least the room was at a comfortable temperature so it wasn't discomforting… but still. They even went as far as to tug off the hair ties that she normally wore and styled it differently that she didn't even get the chance to look in the mirror.

And then she was led into a dark room where she stumbled forward straight into someone! For a brief second, her hands came into contact with was only _skin_ and hard muscle… but their hands grasped hers before she could stumble further.

Large hands.

"O-Oh! I'm so sorry! I can't—"

"Marinette?"

She froze. No, it can't be…

"Chat…?" she whispered softly into the darkness. Her fingers tightened on the hands for a fraction of a second.

He coughed, as if nervous, and said, "Uhm… no… it's Adrien…"

And then instantly released his hands.

Please let her die. Like, _this instant_. This cannot be any more humiliating than it was right now.

"Oh god, please forget I said that." Though he couldn't see her, she was covering her bright red face in her hands. He sounded exactly like Chat, but there was no way he'd be here at this very _exact_ moment would he? After all, they were ways away from the city! And the security of this place was even tighter than some of the museums! And why on earth would she meet Chat without his mask at this very moment?!

He cleared his throat, "Er… uh… why… um… did you think I was Chat?"

"Oh god, no, I… I'm embarrassed enough as it is to have mistaken you for someone else that I… oh god, why me..." No friggin' way was she going to tell why since Chat's visits have been probably far too frequent as of late that she had learned to recognize the way he pronounced her name.

He cleared his throat. "Then uh, do you know exactly what it is we're doing…?"

"No… I don't." Part of her didn't like it. But this was Crystal. In the short time she had conversed with the established woman, the more she understood that she wouldn't do something absolutely terrible to her coworkers and… guests.

But it was terrible.

Marinette braced herself to the slow unveiling of curtains that was pulled aside to reveal a long hallway - like room. On either side of it were mirrors like a fun house, only they were tall enough for the model who walked down the runway that turned off to the right. Down at the very end was Crystal and what looked to be her assistant.

She waved, "Come on down! Just walk how you always do! With confidence!"

The chill washed over her and she glanced down to see her attire and inhaled sharply.

It was lingerie. She was _literally_ wearing _lingerie_ . Someone _please_ kill her right now. Or someone have the ground swallow her whole. Or just disappearing where she stood works too. And… oh dear god, she was standing next to Adrien!

Marinette was so nervous that she couldn't even look up or even see straight that she didn't realize she was beginning to hyperventilate.

It was a single touch to her lower back did she stiffen and immediately straighten. Her frantic eyes darted to the source and found a slightly red faced Adrien looking down at her. He smiled awkwardly in his attempt to console her. Her eyes glanced up to the white cat—

She averted her eyes immediately. But then, she felt something on her own head that her fingers lifted gingerly to touch what felt like her own matching set, glancing down to see that her lingerie was a set of red with black lace at the tops of her panties and her bra. Decorated around it was glitter and what seemed to be some black shiny sequins to give it that extra "flavor" with a garter belt to match that was snapped to her stockings from earlier.

"Come on! It's just us here! So please walk down for me!" Crystal called out.

Marinette shuddered. Why was she doing this? Rather, why was she forced into doing this? Why? At least she was thankful that her shoes matched her—

Okay no, not going there. She wanted to scrap together some remainder of her pride.

So worried about her own concerns, she didn't see Adrien sighing silently and scratching his head as his face turned redder and then immediately sighed again when his eyes noticed his reflection.

Crystal hopped onto the runway and came over toward them, tapping a hand to Marinette's shoulder.

Her eyes darted up to the woman, where she smiled gently. "Was I perhaps too forceful…" her voice was soft in that way that Marinette realized that she wasn't wearing _just_ lingerie, but it was a private line that Crystal was making. It was _her_ work and the model like herself wasn't being… well… cooperative.

Swallowing her pride and embarrassment, she shook her head. There was probably something to be learned from all of this, despite the humiliation that this was giving her. And in front of Adrien, no less. Ah, she shouldn't care so much about a guy who was already with someone else and she _shouldn't_ be having these thoughts about him at all since she had long since moved on. After all, she had Chat—

Okay, there were a lot of thoughts that was screeching to a halt then.

"No, but I wished you would've asked us first," Adrien said, his voice sounding surprisingly rougher than usual that Marinette had to resist in looking at him. He cleared his throat.

"I see… I apologize. It's just, you two were perfect for the line I had in mind and I wanted to see it on you. I suppose the wine was too much for me tonight."

Marinette shook her head again, taking her hand into hers, "No! I-I will w-walk down the runway for you! It's your private line, right? To be released soon? It's an honor for me to model them for you!" She steeled herself for what she was about to and channeled her bravado that she often carried as Ladybug.

Crystal beamed, "Oh, that's wonderful!" She squeezed her hand. "Thank you, dear Marinette! You and Adrien were ideal candidates so please, do share your opinions, yes?"

She nodded and could sense that Adrien did too. Crystal released her hand and walked back down the runway. Turning, she said, "Ask Adrien for tips if necessary, okay, Marinette?"

With another nod, Marinette stood upright with confidence like she did as Ladybug with a big deep breath. And reassured herself that it was only Crystal and her assistant and Adri— No, no, ignoring that. But then she felt the touch of his warm hand on her lower back again, straightening her back. "Just stand this way when you walk and you'll be fine," he murmured into her ear.

Trying to ignore the burn of her ears and cheeks that she couldn't help, she took a deep breath and took his advice to heart. Pretending that she wore the face mask that she often wore, she walked down the runway with how she had seen the models had done before on her time on the show earlier today. With his touch burned onto her skin, her heart pounded so quickly that she thought she was going to explode from nerves. Her eyes glanced up by chance to the mirrors surrounding them and noticed with surprising glee of how _wonderful_ the garments looked on her.

If only Alya was here to see this because she could already hear the words of, "Woo! You go girl! Totally rocking it!"

The bra accented her breasts in a way that made it more appealing by giving it a slight push toward some cleavage and then the garter belt that hooked onto her stockings made her appear older with the way she walked. She blushed at the exposure of her butt and how the panties had just enough lace to make it appear like a tiny "dress" around the top band that comfortably rode high on her hip. Ignoring the fact that she had black cat ears with tufts of pink feathers on the inside and her own black tail that was attached to her garter belt that swung almost realistically against her legs, she was rather _hot_ , if she had to say so herself. (Though, the last minute request of the women from earlier had asked if she could do her panties herself gave her an idea as to what was happening, she hadn't expected it to go _this_ far.)

Her embarrassment washed away when she saw Crystal's serious expression on her face, her analytical eye scrutinizing every little detail in the garment. "No, that needs to be placed better there…" She could see the gears in her mind running miles per second as to how to better adjust. "It needs another accent…" she mumbled, glancing to her assistant and speaking in rapid English and French. The assistant nodded and jotted the notes down.

"Adrien dear, your turn."

Marinette was directed by the assistant to the side of the runway that she would be able to walk into another room, but wanted to see exactly what he was wearing. She regretted it (or not, however one looked at it). He wore what looked to be version of the Speed-o swimsuit so that his package was a sight she never thought she'd see. White with black straps that are normally found on boxers, are found on these, accenting his masculine features that continued in what looked to be temporary (?) fantastical tribal tattoos adorning his skin. It was impossible to hide the blush that burned at her ears, neck, and then even some of her shoulders and arms. The tribal markings went from his arms down to his hand on one side, and the other had the markings on the side of his torso to his back when he turned in place for Crystal.

"Professional" was probably the word that best described him. In spite of the fact that he probably had to be just as embarrassed as she was, there wasn't a trace of a blush on his cheeks. He turned when needed and was conversing with Crystal. She nodded at some of his words that Marinette was curious as to what it was that he was saying. She glanced in Marinette's direction and gestured for her to come back out onto the runway.

"Yes?" Marinette asked.

"How is it? Comfortable? Anything that you think would make it better?" Crystal inquired earnestly.

"Um, well," Marinette adjusted the scruff of the bow that was at the top of the bra strap. "I think the bow here could be done without or it could be placed here instead." She gestured to a spot on the bra itself that wasn't in the way of movement.

Crystal nodded, taking this into consideration. After a few more questions and perusals of the garments they both wore, they were given a change of clothes. She thanked them for their time and mentioned a party was down the hall with the other models.

So other models had to do this too? But then, why was Marinette chosen as a model?

Turning half-way out of the room, she asked quickly, "Crystal!"

Crystal turned, lifting a brow and a curve of her lips, "Yes, my dear?"

"Why did you pick me as a model? I'm… I'm not a professional like Adrien is so why me?"

She smiled, setting down her wine glass and tilted her head ever so slightly, "Dear Marinette, I wanted to show you what it felt like to be a model, modeling clothes that the designer had worked on. To wear your own pieces is something that is worth your own pride, yes, but when it's a different designer, I wanted you to feel what it is that most models feel when they model clothes: happiness and confidence. That this isn't just the models that will feel this, but also the consumers that would eventually wear them."

Somehow, she understood that it was probably why Adrien wasn't too embarrassed (though he does have a really good body to go with it, but still) about wearing those… well, lack of clothes. She recalled her origins of why she wanted to design and how this only fueled her desire to go to a room and just sketch out her ideas for the next contest she would enter in.

But it seemed fate had better ideas.

After exiting the room, the offered change of clothes was accepted and she and Adrien separated so that they could do so in private. Now in a room alone, a note fluttered out from the clothes that said she could keep the "prototypes" and that she should use them when a special man came into her life. Flushing bright red, she shoved the note back into the crevices of her clothes pile. Marinette buried her face in her hands and sat down, burning bright red at how Adrien had seen her in absolutely nothing and seemed completely unfazed.

She ran a hand down her face and rubbed her neck, sighing at how this day had been simply too crazy for her. First, she saw Adrien again when the last she saw of him was months ago. Second, he bore too many traits that resembled Chat Noir with that rogue leather outfit he wore. And third! He didn't seem to be bothered by the fact that she was in her undies! Her undergarments! And he wasn't so much as bothered.

Shoving a foot into the leg of the pants that was given to her, she growled her displeasure at how, at the end of it all, Chloé managed to get ahold of Adrien. But then again, they had been together for a majority of their lives and it seemed to only be natural.

She shook her head. No, she was over this — _no_ , passed this and this shouldn't bother her. Perhaps it had to do with the fact that this was Chloé.

"Isn't this all you wanted?" a small voice squeaked.

Marinette turned to see the small red kwami appear from the door. "Tikki! Where have you been? I was worried when I didn't have my bag on me that you wouldn't be able to find me!" She held the kwami close, rubbing her against her cheek in greeting before releasing.

Tikki giggled, "Well, everyone seemed rather busy so they weren't really looking up. And with the way the house is, it's not so hard to avoid people's eyes."

"That's good," she sighed in relief.

Tikki hovered close to her and then sat down on her shoulder. "But you're bothered by Adrien being here?"

Marinette rubbed her face. "Yeah, and I'm not sure why I am! I mean, sure, yeah, he's a guy and all and I used to like him but—"

"I think you still like him, Marinette."

"I, well, no I can't! I mean, he has Chloé!"

Tikki gave her a look. "But that doesn't stop your feelings any, does it?"

Marinette groaned, her face buried in her hands. "I… No, I don't think I do… I mean, I like Chat—" She froze and grunted, falling back onto the chair. "No, no, _no_ , I most certainly do _not_ like Chat and his stupid grin and his stupid jokes and his stupid—"

Tikki giggled again.

"No! I refuse!" she sat up straight, looking at Tikki. "I don't!"

The kwami laughed, "Whatever you say!"

"I'm serious!" Marinette insisted, only to get her kwami to laugh some more. Reluctantly, the topic was dropped and returned to the task at hand. At least they had the decency of giving her "clothes" back.

Now finished dressing into what felt to be comfortable clothes of slim fitted black pants and a very soft blue v-cut t-shirt, she placed the undergarments into the offered bag left in the room and left the room. A rather pretty looking woman in her mid-thirties dressed in all black with accents of gold and silver embroidery smiled at Marinette, offered her hands, "I'll take those for you, ma'am, and put them in your room with your other clothes."

"Ah, thanks," Marinette handed the bag off. Once she did, the woman gave her a piece of paper that said a number. That must be her room for the night. Although her parents had given their permission to be out this late and to be this long away from them, they still wanted her to call them each night to assure that she's doing everything they told her to do. (Not to say she couldn't handle herself since she's Ladybug.) With the call finished, she looked for where the party was held at.

Walking around, she headed toward what sounds to be a group of people laughing loudly. Entering through a pair of grand looking double doors by pushing one open, she found a group of extremely good looking people, all drinking wine or… some kind of clear drink, but could only assume what it was. In the center is a sunken sitting area filled with bean bags and comfortable pillows of all shapes and sizes. In front of where she walked into was a tiled floor that eventually met with plush beige carpet that split around the sunken floor. To the left was a small bar with a large assortment of different kinds of wine, vodka, and rum that sat by a glowing display with about ten bar stools facing the black granite bar. (There appeared to be a man of his mid-forties cleaning glasses, watching warily his patrons.) Behind that was another sitting area with more plush seating that circled around the sunken floor to more plush seating with a large projection television projected onto the wall by the long window that stretched across the entirety of the back wall with the beautiful view of the city stretched out before them.

"Marinette!" Someone called out to her. A young, slender looking woman with long, straight black hair and beautiful green eyes came over and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. She remembered this model to be Elise, a kind girl despite the cutthroat world of high fashion. She was also one to get into loads of mischief, however, and that made Marinette a little worried she had some alcohol in her.

"We were wondering where you went off to!" She had her sitting down on a rather plush navy bean bag. Looking around, she couldn't find the familiar head of blond and green eyes. Everyone else besides Elise were complete strangers. Elise had been the only model who was a repeat for Marinette to design for in the many contests that she had entered.

"I got dragged off to do a… a… meeting with Crystal," Marinette conceded rather awkwardly, averting her eyes at not wanting to answer to the fact that she _modeled_ _lingerie_ for someone as famous as Crystal. (And Adrien too, but she's trying her best to not think about it.)

Elise raised a brow but said nothing. "Well," she emphasized, leaning on her shoulder. "It's a sleepover — a slumber party! — by Crystal so we're gonna have some fun tonight!"

"... Pardon?" Marinette gulped nervously. She didn't have Alya here to help her out. The protective best friend would know when enough is enough and would definitely know when things are of peer pressure. Though, it's not to say Marinette couldn't handle herself, no, but it would just make it easier to have her best friend at every step of the way and just to experience all of this together.

"Don't worry, I'll watch out for you!" She heard the kwami whisper in her ear, hidden away in her hair.

"So this here is Ethan, Nicholas, Vincent, Louisa, Ariel, and Kris," Elise introduced in order.

Marinette swallowed her shyness down and took a deep breath. Ethan was a pretty teenager of at least eighteen with dark blond hair and pale blue eyes and fair skin. He was tall and lanky, judging from the way he sat cross legged on the floor, but still toned enough that there was decent muscle definition in his arms. A similar soft light blue t-shirt was what he wore with grey sweats betrayed a comfort he had in his own skin.

Nicholas was milk chocolate skinned with beautiful, almost curly ebony hair and matching dark brown eyes. He smiled easy and mysterious and it would be a lie that Marinette didn't find him attractive (heck, they all were). He was more built than Ethan with broader shoulders, but she wasn't sure who would be taller. A dark green v-cut t-shirt was what he wore and matched with similar sweats of black.

Vincent would be Nicholas' twin, if it weren't for the fact that instead of dark eyes, he had hazel and with slightly longer hair. He was more stoic than his brother (so Elise explained) and had a look of seriousness that gave him an air of a lone wolf vibe. They were both in their late teens of eighteen and he wore a dark red v-cut t-shirt and black sweats.

Louisa was beautiful in that way that made her appear like a doll. Pale skin with light, almost platinum blonde hair was tied loosely into a small bun behind her head with some of her longer bangs hanging in her face and perhaps the deepest blue eyes she had ever seen on a person with long lashes as their frame. She wore a light pink v-cut t-shirt and a pair of dark grey shorts that came to her slender mid-thighs.

Ariel was cute in that way he smiled a crooked grin when it came to him in their round of introductions. Mousy brown hair that was styled up messy and brown eyes that seemed to know more than he let on. He waved rather jovially, almost in a mocking manner of a salute, earning a pillow to the face by Louisa. He wore a blue t-shirt with red sweats.

Kris was pretty in a mysterious way. Tanned skin with raven colored hair with highlights of blue and her dark eyes framed by long lashes made her almost seductive when she smiled at Marinette. Unlike the others, she wore a scoop neck white tank with black, white striped pants along the hem with a white string tied off at the waistband. But like Louisa, they were thin and slender with minimal muscle tone in their attempt of keeping shape. They were both also eighteen.

"And of course, you know darling Adrien, right?" Elise shrugged, sitting down next to Marinette.

"Um, yeah, I do," she replied weakly. What else was she to say to this group of really pretty people?

Louisa giggled, "Adrien is really cute for his age."

Marinette had a feeling they had a little bit too much to drink, judging by the many empty bottles of wine in the room. They weren't particularly expensive by the look of the brand, but still.

"No, Adrien is quite on par as our boys here," Kris said with a sip of her glass. "Hot, but he'll be even hotter when he gets to our age."

"He's got the talent for it, sure," Ethan shrugged, drinking away at his own wine glass. "But that thing he has with… uh… what's her name…"

"I don't want to talk about her," Ariel whined. "She's _boring_. Absolutely boring." He pouted with the glass of wine at his own lips.

"But you're willing to talk about Adrien?" Marinette asked. Elise placed a wine glass in her hand and poured what appeared to be a decent amount of it.

He opened his mouth for a remark when Adrien walked in, glancing around. "Adrien! Come here and join us!" He stood and opened his arms wide for the blond to notice him, only to be dragged back down by Louisa to the bed of pillows and bean bags in a fit of laughter.

Louisa giggled, biting her lower lip before turning to him. "Adrien, here." She stood and offered him a clean wine glass and poured some wine. It was about the same amount as Marinette's. "Join the festivities!"

"What are we celebrating?" he asked, sitting down beside Marinette.

"To you both of course!" Elise cheerfully raised her glass in much excitement. "In celebration for joining our circle of friends!"

"Elise, you're drinking too much already," Nicholas stifled a laugh.

"Cheers!" The raised toast was done and their glasses clinked, even though Vincent warned against them drinking too much.

Marinette sipped at her wine, blinking when she found that it was sweeter than she was used to. But as more teenagers of various modeling careers poured in, the more raucous the party got. Without Elise acting as her "protector", Marinette gulped down at least two glasses of wine that when it was called for a game, she barely had the mind to try and reject and retire. Somehow, they didn't seem to hear her and she was plopped down in a circle of other people. In the center was a wine bottle that spun quickly on a small make-shift table. She was slowly beginning to sober when the bottle stopped and landed on…

She stopped breathing.

And then in a fit of gleeful words and large groups of people, she and the other party was shoved in what appeared to be a surprisingly small closet in a house that said otherwise. They were shrouded in darkness and her head spun from the alcohol.

"Are you alright?" His voice was soft, worried.

"I… think so…" she mumbled.

"Is this what those movies often depict as… uh, seven minutes in heaven?"

"I think so… but i've never done one of these before so I wouldn't know." She tried to stifle the giggle that threatened to bubble.

He sounded amused, "What are we supposed to do in here?"

Marinette decided not to answer and focused on trying to sober in a strange moment of understanding that she should be, but it wasn't helpful when half the closet was taken up by boxes and random other objects that she could feel the heat of his chest on her own. She could even feel his breath on her cheek. Dangit, she needed to move since her leg was starting to cramp. Darn those other drunkards that weren't really thinking about at least clearing up _some_ space before shoving two people in here.

"I… I need to move," she said after several minutes had passed.

"O-Okay." He shifted and she had to brace herself, adjusting herself so that she could rotate in place. Holy crap, this was not helping. He was _way_ more built than she had expected as her chest rubbed against his and when they were separated for the brief moment they had, she almost breathed a sigh of relief when his chest met her back.

_Only a few more minutes_ , she assured herself.

"Did you have a lot to drink?" he asked, though it sounded almost as an afterthought.

"I only had three glasses of wine too many, why?" Marinette inwardly smacked herself when she couldn't stifle the giggle this time.

"I see… Are you sure you're okay?"

She laughed, "I-I'd like to think so, but isn't this fun? I mean, here we are, stuck, together, in a very _tiny_ space and we aren't going to make out. I mean, that's the point right?"

He rested his chin on her left shoulder, her breath hitching and becoming almost lodged in her throat in surprise. "A-Adrien…?"

"Ju-Just a minute…"

She waited for him to continue, but he didn't. Well, not her problem. She was happily enjoying the floating sensation that the heat of the small closet was aiding in.

But she didn't notice how hoarse his voice sounded for the entirety of this situation and how conflicted Adrien was feeling for the entirety of the evening.

When their minutes were up, the door opened and they exited, making their "makeout" session non-existent when some realized their error in pairing up Adrien with Marinette. Again, that didn't seem to bother her as she skipped off to grab another glass of that sweet tasting wine.

Marinette immediately downed another glass while conversing with many other models, that floaty feeling even continuing as she realized that she should probably do something about this growing need to touch people. With this in mind, she wished everyone goodnight and headed up to the rooms. She looked for the number and found it led to a suite. Locking the door behind her, Tikki floated out from her hair.

"That was a close one! I was almost sure he would've noticed me!" She floated through the air before crash landing on the small stack of pillows Marinette was making at the bottom of the bed. The bed had too many for her liking and it was far bigger than the one she was used to back home.

"But this was rather fun," Marinette said under her breath.

"Will you be okay? Or rather, are you okay?" Tikki asked softly. She gave a once over, wondering if that flush to her cheeks was okay, but Marinette seemed to be in a rather good mood despite the encounter with Adrien.

She smiled, mostly to assure that kwami, and waved almost in a sing-song manner, "Mmhm! I think I'm going to get some air before sleeping though."

"Okay, I'll be here if you need me," the red kwami curled up on the pillows and quickly dozed off.

Stretching, she opened the balcony doors and to the view of the city. Leaning against the railing, she hummed contently, but the view made her miss home. It felt like it had been such a long time since she had the time to unwind. So busy with the contests in her effort to forget about the one boy, she never really got to simply just… relax.

She inhaled and exhaled deeply to take in the greenery around her, and then rolled her eyes as she felt his approach. Honestly, how he found her so far from the city was beyond her, but she was happy regardless. Maybe instead of venting her strangely building feelings to some random strangers, she could take them out on Chat. After all, it'd be fun right? He'd be okay with this, right?

Moments before he dropped down, she turned and greeted, "Chat, I'm amazed you found me so far out of the city."

"You're not _that_ far _fur_ -om the city," he said, coming to standing beside her. But his lips became a thin line. "You look flushed; are you alright?"

A grin she had been suppressing since his arrival made itself known. She leaned close, smirking, "I'm really quite fine, yes, but I think I'd like to invite you to do something with me."

He seemed surprised by her very forward action and managed to smoothly return to being his cocky self. "What would that be?"

Before Marinette could feel the effects of alcohol wear off, she stepped forward and hugged him.

He stiffened, but then quickly relaxed. "If you just wanted a hug, princess, I am _purr_ fectly happy to give you one." He knelt down just enough to wrap his arms around her waist and lift her off the ground. Her arms gripped him tightly around his shoulders, feeling comforted by the embrace. She sighed, the kind that was of relief and need that Chat tightened his hold.

His face pressed into her neck again, like he had done before and she bit down a giggle from the heated breath that tickled her skin. He mumbled something into her hair that she didn't know if she had heard that right or not.

Absently running her fingers through his hair, she pulled away to better ask what it was when their eyes became level. She felt a finger stroke her cheek that she smiled almost shyly, but tilted her head in innocent curiosity. "What is it? What did you say?"

He smirked, seemingly too confident, "Would you mind indulging in something?"

"Depends." It must be the alcohol but she was feeling positively giddy about the feeling he was giving her. It felt _really_ good to be near him, to be _touching_ him that she wasn't aware that she was giving him an enticing smile.

He placed his forehead against hers, his voice barely above a whisper, "Will you grant me permission to kiss you, princess?"

She giggled. There were a lot of thoughts that swarmed in the back of her mind to fight this, and that she should think about this more thoroughly before doing anything as engaging in something so… so… scandalous. But, right now, she wanted to _touch_ and explore and _play_ and she wasn't entirely sure why.

"Yes, please," she whispered breathlessly.

He shifted closer to her, her gaze becoming lidded that his finger tucked a stray strand behind her ear. His lips, just barely touched hers that it took all of her breath away. He hadn't really kissed her and yet, this surely felt as good as one. It was as if he was trying something, almost hesitant that he should continue. Did he perhaps realize that she was a little bit tipsy? (Okay, a lot, but what he doesn't know won't hurt him, right?)

What a gentleman.

She wanted the touchy feeling to continue, whether she knew what she was doing or not.

Maybe.

With her hands clasped on either side of his face, she pouted, "Hey, if you're going to ask for a kiss, you should give a better one than that." She closed the remaining gap between them and gave him what was a tentative first kiss on her part. Being in close proximity like this with their lips touching, she tried her best to give him the best kind of kiss she could give. So that when she pulled away, she felt rather proud of herself for giving him a good first kiss that she almost missed with startling and sobering surprise the change in his voice.

"Please don't tempt me," he breathed, his voice rough that it melted her insides.

And then he took her lips again with… an emotion she isn't sure entirely sure of. At first, it was soft, gentle, and considerate before it became hungrier. He was softer than he looked that she wanted to keep kissing him, to keep feeling this sense of _good_ that she wasn't entirely sure of how to describe as it became hot. He took in her gasps, her shock that when his tongue danced out to taste her, she shuddered in surprise. Her fingers buried itself into his messy blond hair, gripping gently in hopes of not floating away or perhaps getting lost in the sensations.

"Ki-Kitty," she moaned, barely coherent.

He didn't respond, kissing her senseless as his leather covered hands found its way to her exposed skin and his claws scraped gently down her back. Another moan as she felt the goosebumps raise on her skin. She could feel the cool bar of the railing press against her thighs before his other arm shifted to keep her up in supporting her weight before settling her there.

Hot. It was suddenly too hot and she wished for so many things that she didn't know what she was wishing for. The things he did with his mouth was ripping away at her senses, his lips continuously kissing and nipping at her skin and mouth. She arched underneath his touch, her clothes constricting her when his lips found her neck.

At first, he had just kissed and nipped along her jawline that she couldn't resist but sigh and press herself against him. He was all leather, all hard muscle that the heat rose and settled in a place just below her abdomen and she found herself almost wanting more.

And then he stopped.

" _Kitty_ ," she gasped, wondering why he stopped in her haze of feelings she's never experienced before.

He groaned, his voice so rough, and deep that he was breathing heavily, "You have no idea what you're doing to me when you call me like that."

"Then why stop?" Marinette's lidded eyes smiled with thoroughly kiss lips and looked up to the seemingly bright green eyes that gleamed in the darkness. It was so intense in the way he looked at her that she squirmed in place.

His hands gripped her hips, stopping her from moving, but it didn't stop the heat of his hands to permeate through her clothes.

He lifted a hand to cup her cheek, pressing his forehead against hers and whispered, "I don't want to take advantage of the princess."

And then she melted.

Not from this… feeling he gave her, but from the affection she suddenly felt for her cat. _Her_ cat, the one that always stopped by her room on nights when he needed to be near her; the one that cared and wanted what's best for her; and the one who seemed to know when something was wrong whenever he did stop by.

"Silly kitty, you're not taking advan—"

A beep interrupted her words and he gently set her down, nuzzling against her neck as he did.

"I… can't do this when you're not entirely yourself so I must go," he continued in that rough, but gentle voice of his. It was so silky, so smooth that she almost missed how he used to sound so sure of himself instead of this… seductive cat. Surprisingly, she rather liked the way his voice sounded so… _heated_.

Maybe she did have a bit too much.

She nodded, touching his cheek when they're about to part both physically and visually. "—Did you come here for something?" It was almost an afterthought, but she retained at least some part of her brain and common sense.

She was almost afraid to hear his answer. So needy in wanting to feel and continue that feel goodness, she hadn't even thought of her cat's needs.

He closed his eyes and slowly reopened them, smirking, "No, I got what I came here for: to see you unravel."

She ignored the skipping of her heart and smacked him, giggling lightly that while she watched him move off and into the brush, she was relieved to realize that she had moved on from Adrien. Even if it meant perhaps using her cat to figure out what these strange feelings of the need to touch, to be near someone, and to…

Her thoughts stopped, rethinking quickly at what she just said to herself when she felt a pang with a sobering realization.

There was no way she would ever _use_ her cat… would she?


	5. Too Many Questions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adrien contemplates on questions that are left up in the air after last night.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey sorry for the delayed update. Real life has been a pain lately so it's been difficult to sit down and write. It didn't help that I also had a bit of a writer's block, if you can't tell when you read the chapter. But here it is! I tried something and hope it's what everyone has been expecting. But don't worry, I have some stuff coming on the way that would be really interesting!

 

Dreaming about it was one thing but actually doing it had been beyond his basic form of comprehension. Waking up that morning had been a drag, quite frankly. Seeing her melt like she had in his hands had been an entirely different feeling than he had thought it would be. It left him feeling both hungry and needy for more.

At first, spending some one on one time in the limousine had been a surprise, caught off-guard when he unwittingly mentioned that he was actually paying attention to her entries to the various contests. Chat was the one who knew that, not him, and he was extremely relieved that he had managed to pull that out of his butt because honestly, Alya and Nino had _not_ exactly mentioned those things since he rarely talked to Alya. Though, it was on the sparse occasions when they were meeting up in the very little free time he had in between shoots and takes for filming that they did talk.

And then her disappointment afterward. Well, that was a surprise. He, himself, didn't expect to be disappointed by her "let-down" voice when news of her progress had been passed by word of mouth rather than himself watching out for her. His lie had backfired and he was feeling terrible about that.

Then, just as quickly, she lit up like the stars and was inwardly relieved he didn't have to continue messing up this strange relationship he had with her when Crystal mentioned her private line. But then he was quickly escorted, a behavior he was entirely used to (with surprising distaste), and was put into a room where he was asked by a male in his early to mid-thirties to change his clothes into the one in the box placed before him. He was wary since he had never modeled clothes that were well… _less_ than clothes when he picked them up. But this was a favor, one that Crystal would be sure to pay back since she should know better than to mess with Gabriel's son. Especially since Adrien was quickly getting the hang of things as he aged.

And then they were shoved into a dark room together.

And _then_ she called him Chat.

He probably would've died then if he hadn't been trying so hard not to do something stupid. He almost thought she knew who he was, even though he had asked why she thought them the same. (However, it's quite obvious they are...) But when she immediately began to insist that he wasn't, he was startled to find that he was disappointed that Marinette hadn't found out.

What happened after made him want to seriously consider leaving and just becoming Chat Noir so he could run away in embarrassment or hide. Either option would've been good. For there was Marinette, clad only in lingerie.

Like holy hell, _lingerie_.

Marinette. Lingerie. **_Seriously_**.

It made him _really_ rethink her in a way he hadn't thought of before, though, thinking back, it was probably out of a surprising burst of lust more than anything else. After all, he had been strangely dreaming about her the night before and the same day he woke up, she's dressed up provocatively in garments that not only resembled a Ladybug pattern (dear god help him), but she was extremely _sexy_ for it. However, these thoughts conflicted with the mannered and polite gentleman that he should portray and _be_. Falling to the whims of what his body demanded was, as much as he hated the idea, very against what Gabriel had taught him to be. As demanding as his father was, Adrien was aware that it _could_ be worse, but it still doesn't excuse it either.

Then when he finished changing, he departed for the party that Crystal mentioned. He handed off the bag of clothes he had changed out of to a woman of her thirties dressed in almost all black. There was a note, reminding him to keep it (along with those "tattoos" of his) and that he should wear it whenever he needed a boost in confidence. He didn't need a boost, he just needed to change into Chat and he'd be fine…

The party was, well, as he expected. What he _didn't_ expect was when Marinette started to laugh more than he was used to. And then things moved so fast that he didn't even get the chance to retort that he didn't want to play spin the bottle. But he did when Elise pushed him to being seated in a circle with a few other people that he recalled meeting earlier.

Bewildered since the wine barely had any effect, he blinked with wide eyes when he watched the bottle spin until it came to a stop with almost a sense of dread. And his eyes lifted to see it land on Marinette—

Only to be rushed off and shoved into a very tiny and cramped closet. Honestly, one would think that someone thought this through, but they didn't since there were dozens of boxes inside. It allowed very little space between him and a very giggly Marinette.

Which was amusing to say the least. However, it wasn't helpful that she kept moving every few seconds on both _rubbing_ against him and… god, whatever else she kept doing because she didn't _stop_. It was quickly becoming warm in too many ways and as much as he wished he wasn't influenced by the warmth and the ~~godfriggin'damn~~ _wiggling_ , he was. His fingers itched to react, to touch her and mold her against him in ways he wasn't even sure of what they were. Well, he was aware, but it was a dark path that he scarcely wanted to try again. Mostly because of what Chloé had made him feel during those moments of intimacy… or weakness. He wasn't sure which it was.

Being realistic, his small talk was terrible to say the least, and the fact he managed a small conversation was perhaps a miracle in itself. Then their shifting happened and then...

He grunted, throwing a pillow onto his face with a muffled groan. Adrien wanted to bury himself. Well, he could, but the next best thing was to lie awake in bed and stare at the bloody ceiling. Plagg had already made a mockery of him when they returned to the room last night and it didn't feel like the memory would go away anytime soon, even after a whole (failed) night's rest. In fact, it probably made it worse.

He had no idea _why_ or _what_ possessed him to transform and go visit Marinette. When she was clearly drunk after that little spectacle in the closet. He shouldn't be getting so close to Marinette… He… _shouldn't_. It was _Chat_ that was getting close to her, not him. Er, both of them were him, but how does it explain this strange feeling that was growing in his desire to see her? To see that uplifted eyebrow and pink lips retort something smart to him when he was being overconfident? To see her eyes light up like the stars when they were talking about her dreams? To see her eyes alight with a cheer and amusement that he knew only he could give her?

He didn't quite understand the feeling. After all, he loved Ladybug, his "mistress" and "lady" and would do anything for her. Sacrificing his life was the least he could do whenever they got into danger.

Adrien sat up, running his fingers through his hair in frustration for what appeared to be the millionth time that morning, and rubbed them against his face. "What am I doing, honestly?" he mumbled.

Plagg rolled over on the pillow next to him, snoring obnoxiously that he felt rather less inclined on staying in bed. Adrien lifted a brow of part disbelief and part envy. The kwami didn't have to worry about such feelings like he had to. It was almost enviable.

Rubbing the back of his neck, he swung his legs out from underneath the plush blankets and washed up in the bathroom. Wearing only the t-shirt and pants given, he padded across the tiled floors of the mansion. He peeked into the party room from last night, noting the large number of people curled up comfortably on the oversized bean bags. Somehow, all of them had blankets draped over them and not a mess was to be seen. (Though, he made note of the mysterious staff that appeared and disappeared.) Not seeing anyone familiar, he continued until he found the kitchen.

It was top of the line, similar to the one at home that it made the teen sigh. Opening and closing the many cupboards in his endeavors to try to find something familiar, he eventually pulled out a tea bag and a ceramic white mug. After finding the hot water dispenser, he let the tea bag sit inside the mug while he continued to mull over the events of last night.

Her question had left him almost regretting what he had answered. What he had wanted to say to her when he saw her hadn't been to see her like that, but it had simply because he desired to be near her, to be close, even though he didn't understand why. She made him feel things, feel a warmth that he wanted to cling to without leaving it, and made him feel okay.

He was so deep in thought with a faint blush on his cheeks that he didn't hear her come in. He didn't see her eyes widen and frantically look side to side like she once did frequently before taking a deep breath for calm, her lips moving rapidly as if to assure herself something. She greeted him for a moment, but he didn't seem to register his name being called several times as he took a slow and steady sip.

"Adrien?"

He blinked, starting when the girl in question appeared next to him, surprisingly closer than he thought that he almost juggled the mug out of his hands in surprise. "M-Marinette, you scared me," he said, cradling the mug to make sure none of the tea spilled out.

She giggled and he turned to her, smiling against the lip of the mug. "I called you before but you seemed to be very deep in thought." She leaned against the granite grey and black granite top edge next to him. Her fingers linked themselves together in front of her.

"Ah, sorry, I… yeah, jumbled thoughts," he managed weakly. He was pathetic, he thought with a mental smack.

Her bright blue eyes turned to him, "Are you drinking tea?"

His cheeks flushed, recalling her expression from the night before when she leaned close to note the string still hanging over the mug's lip.

"Y-Yeah," Adrien replied, trying not stare. He honestly shouldn't be so pathetic. Maybe it was the first time he felt this way that he wasn't entirely sure what to make of it. Taking a breath, he should try channeling some of his bravado from Chat into himself now. "Would you like some?"

She nodded quickly, smiling broadly as she watched him pick up a matching white mug and the same tea bag he had pulled out for himself. Preparing it, Adrien listened as Marinette spoke rather thoughtfully.

"You know, it had been such a long time since we got to talk like this since you've been so busy," she mused softly.

Adrien tightened his grip on the mug's handle before releasing it. It wasn't intentional for him to not see his friends. Especially Nino, who taught him what it felt like to have them in the first place. Though he was understanding in Adrien's search for freedom and recognition, it still hurt them both to have one or the other busy as they were. Maybe he could ask his manager if his friends are allowed to join him for a day on the set of the upcoming movie he was starring in. Or maybe reserve a day off where he could go hang out with them for a while.

Anything would do as long as he could.

"Yeah…" Absently, he finished making her tea and again, did not notice her glance of concern shot his way. He turned to her, smiling politely, "Here, it's ready."

"Oh, thank you," she said, taking the mug into her hands. After blowing on it and taking a sip, Marinette continued watching him. "Adrien, are you alright? You seem… distracted."

He flushed, not wanting to think about the variety of distractions he could have and swallowed the random train of thoughts that just crashed into his mind at that moment when he noted the look in her eyes. Especially since he took notice of the attire she wore. She wore a fitted v-neck t-shirt that conformed to her form that did not help stifle his remembrance of the previous night. Ignoring the need to touch like he had been all night, he gripped his mug tighter. His green eyes averted from her gaze.

"I… just have a lot on my mind," he said softly. He didn't want to admit that it was she that currently occupied his mind and was _now_ distracting him. After all, last night had left rather mixed feelings.

She tilted her head, but didn't seem to push it. Sipping her tea, she leaned against the counter across from him so they were facing each other. "Adrien, I'm here if you need an ear, okay?"

He smiled gratefully, knowing full well that she genuinely meant it. That's just how she is and something about that warmed his chest.

"Mhmm, thanks, Marinette," he nodded. How was it that he can talk so casually with her being hyper aware of him? He recalled briefly their time together when he went over to her house to train for the Ultimate Mecha Strike 3 tournament and how awkward it had felt for a moment. It was years ago but it had been the first time he had ever been inside a girl's room that wasn't Chloé's. Marinette was an exceptional friend at that time.

But now, it's up in the air. He still doesn't know why her behavior changed, why she was so melancholy, and why she avoided talking to him. Alya said nothing and for a while, she gave him mere shrugs to his inquiries about Marinette. Maybe with him spending more time with her, he can find out why. He had felt so helpless as a friend then, not knowing what to do or say to comfort her when she wasn't even talking to him. But the question was whether or not she would open up to him about that sort of thing.

They fell into a comfortable silence, drinking their tea and Adrien glancing every so often in Marinette's direction. Her hair was down, passed her shoulders and down her back and front. It curled around her, giving the impression she simply ran her fingers through her hair. Over the years, her hair had grown longer and longer, making her appear more feminine. It reminded him of Ladybug, who had her own hair grown in the same time frame.

His thoughts paused before he shook his head. _No_ , it _couldn't_ be.

"Adrien?"

"Mmm?"

"How do you know when you like someone?"

He coughed, essentially choking on the drink he just swallowed seconds ago. When he managed to breathe again, he cleared his throat, "I'm sorry, but come again?"

She blushed, her hands fiddling either the tag that hung over the side of her mug, appearing sheepish and a sense of familiarity washed over him. "Well, there's kinda been someone in my life that I… well, did something with and I'm not sure if I care for them or not. I… I mean, I guess what I mean to say is, how do you know when you've moved on from someone to liking someone else?"

Adrien blinked. He wasn't sure what to feel since a mixture of feelings conflicted with what he should feel. Disappointment? Hopeful? Hurt? Happy? He didn't know. Who was it that she may possibly "like"? But if she did like someone else, then why did she allow him to kiss her?

"Uh, well…" Technically, he really wasn't the person to ask about this sort of thing since he had yet to move on from his love for Ladybug. It's only been lately that Marinette had been on his mind, and apparently last night, on his _body_ too. Ah, crap, wrong direction for that train of thought to go.

He rubbed the back of his neck, and gave an awkward smile, "Honestly speaking, I don't know. I mean, when you like them, don't you want to do everything for that person? To do whatever you can to be with them? Or really, to just _be_ with them…?" Like his Lady. He always wanted to be with her, despite her thinking and wanting it to be otherwise.

Marinette nodded, thoughtful as her fingers rubbed against the rim. "Yeah, I… that much I know, but… liking someone again is new and I don't know what I'm doing. Like, I'm used to him being all mister confident and not so serious but he's changed and become different somehow..." her cheeks darkened.

Oh dear god, wait a friggin' second — was she talking about their kiss last night? _No_ , was she talking about _him_?

She shook her head quickly, waving her one hand rapidly in front of her to dissuade him from answering, "Uh, actually, no, you can forget I said anything."

Despite how incredulous he felt, he really couldn't help but note that her blushing face was really cute. He could feel the Chat inside him awaken to urges he wasn't sure he wanted to try again. Remembering how she pressed herself against him had been so _nice_ , especially when he had essentially kissed her senseless… Okay, seriously, snap out of it.

"Are you sure?" he asked, unable to hide to amusement in his tone. Inwardly, he tried to quiet that Chat Noir. He wasn't _trying_ to be Chat, he was Adrien right now. It was strangely easy to be more of himself around Marinette. It was possible that all his time spent as other self made it habit whenever he was around her as Adrien.

"Y-Yes! Please! Oh god, I'm so embarrassed, I'm so sorry," she rushed out. "I just… I don't know, wanted a guy's opinion of… something, I guess." She groaned, "I don't know! I'm just confused… probably." Her eyes shifted, staring down at her mug while biting her lower lip, a habit he observed when she was anxious.

While he would have liked nothing more than to push her buttons, he knew he couldn't. He wished he could, given that in all of the time that he had spent with her as Chat Noir, he enjoyed teasing her the most.

"Marinette, it's not that embarrassing to ask a friend for an opinion on something," he assured her despite her thinking otherwise.

"Easy for you to say," she mumbled. She seemed to have retorted something smart in her head, given how she glared at the mug.

He laughed, ignoring the strange feeling that he's heard that line one too many times, "So even you can be embarrassed."

Marinette shot him a look, but she couldn't help but relax and her lips curved ever so slightly. "Yes, even I can be. But compared to you, I think even I would be embarrassed wearing such a strange outfit on the show." She bit her lower lip and glanced down at her cup.

A brow lifted, "Well, it's for my character in my upcoming role for _Game of Magic_ … So," Adrien shrugged, "it's something I was going to have to wear anyway."

"Sounds like fun." She appeared to have finished off the rest of her tea as she straightened. "I-I think I should get—"

"Would you like to hang out with me this weekend?" When she gave him a look, he added, "With Nino and Alya of course. I mean, I don't want to pressure you with anything."

She gave him a long look, but wasn't able to answer him when Vincent entered the kitchen, holding a mug himself and a newspaper rolled up under his arm. He canted his head, "Mornin'." He took a quick glance around the kitchen before settling himself down on the bar.

"Not staying in your room anymore?" Adrien asked curiously, straightening and a little disappointed that he didn't get to see her answer.

He shrugged, "Most of everyone slept in the party room. They should all be waking up to continue the party. I know Elise would."

"Do you have any idea where Crystal is?" Marinette placed her mug in the sink, appearing unsure of what to do with the mug otherwise.

Another shrug, "She said that she'll be done to collect you and Adrien after everyone has breakfast. That or she'll do what she needs to do, as she often does."

So, it sounded as though they were stuck here until someone said differently. Adrien finished the rest of his tea, "But I need to get to a meeting today — does she really need me here?" He gave a glance to Marinette before turning his attention back to the model.

"She said your driver was coming to get you when the shoot would start since she was partially in charge of it," Vincent took another sip of his drink. Despite his age, it looked as if he was older than he actually was given his mannerisms of being quite stoic. His amber colored eyes shot to Marinette. "You… I think you're free the rest of the day until tomorrow since there was nothing on the schedule that needed you specifically. You're the contest winner right?"

She nodded, albeit hesitantly.

"Then yes, you're free to do as you please for today before coming back to the set tomorrow for your next part of the prize." A faint smile lingered that Adrien wasn't sure if he was smiling or not. "I look forward to working with you both."

Wait, what? Vincent was working with him?

"Hold on, you're one of the actors in the—"

"Yes, I am," he folded the newspaper closed. "I'm going to be, ah… I suppose that's a spoiler, isn't it?" He tapped the folded newspaper against his chin. "Something Ariel often says."

Adrien had yet to meet all of the actors for the movie, but today was when he was supposed to meet all of them. Were some of the models here specifically so he would meet them before they started filming together? Who? Which one? Why was this happening _now_ when he had already established himself as an actor? Did the others not yet trust him and his talent to act in the way they desire? Did they think that he became an actor on his father's name?

A hand touched his arm and he blinked, glancing to Marinette who smiled at him in reassurance. He wasn't even aware but his fist had been holding onto his mug a little more tightly than he had originally. Relaxing his grip, he said politely, "So I assume the shoot today is with all of us?"

Vincent nodded, "Yes, that much, I can tell you, since it is what they need before we start. Teasers, if you will. If you will excuse me, I must collect my brother and be heading out." He nodded his head slightly, rising and left the kitchen to Adrien and Marinette.

Seconds pass before Marinette squeezed his arm, "Are you alright…?" she asked softly.

"I… I'm fine, yeah," he replied weakly. If he wasn't nervous before, he was nervous now and quite frankly, he wasn't when this day started. When this day started, all he had been thinking about was the girl next to him, but now it's as though something was closing in on him.

No, not quite. Well, yes, he _was_ thinking about her, but he needed to get his head in gear. He shook his head, shaking off the momentary sense of self-doubt.

"No, I am fine; thanks, Marinette," he smiled.

She seemed relieved. "Good."

He placed a hand on her shoulder, "Again, thanks."

Just then, his phone rang and flicking the screen open, it revealed his driver calling. After making arrangements for them to meet up in an hour, he hung up. It was enough time for him to collect his things and get washed up for the shoot. Excusing himself, he took a quick shower and packed his belongings and set them down by the door. With that done, he wondered where Marinette had wandered off to and set off looking for her. He discovered her in a plush living room with Nicholas and Vincent, both conversing with her in what appeared to be an energetic matter on Marinette's part. A feeling he isn't sure of what to describe boiled inside him and was quickly stomped out before he could think too hard about it. He was Adrien, Adrien, Adrien…

"Marinette?" He called out, approaching them.

Nicholas gave an easy smile whereas Vincent merely regarded him with a nod. Marinette, however, gave him a bright grin. "Adrien!"

Let it never be said that his heart didn't skip a beat at her lovely smile, though, it's not as if he's entirely aware of it.

"Hey, what are you guys talking about?" he asked curiously.

"Oh! Well, they were telling me about some of the things they get to do as models and some of the people they know that can really help me learn a thing or two in fashion design. I mean, no one could ever be as good as your dad, of course, but still, any step in that direction is good," she rambled.

He nodded, understanding where she was coming from, but could not understand why he felt a sense of… resentment? Irrational anger? Irritation? He wasn't sure, but it was something along those lines at seeing her talk so happily to someone else. But it's… not right for him to feel this way when he had no right to. Marinette was free to talk to whoever she wanted to. He had to remain being a gentleman.

"Sounds like you're really going somewhere," Adrien said thoughtfully, shoving those feelings aside like he did frequently when he was "Adrien".

"We were just wondering what she was going to do for the rest of the day when you came in." Nicholas shrugged in his light blue dress shirt. "I'm surprised she has nothing to do."

"It's not entirely surprising. More often than not, it's difficult for the contest winner to get their prize so early on when some of it isn't even ready to be shown," Vincent explained with indifference.

"Ah," Nicholas seemed to understand. "Well, aren't we allowed a guest today?"

"A guest where?" Marinette sounded curious.

"Onto our photo shoot today."

Adrien blinked, surprised. He didn't hear anything about this, otherwise he would've brought Nino along.

Vincent shook his head. " _You_ aren't but I am," his brow rose skeptically. "Remember the last time you brought a guest on set?"

Adrien vaguely recalled a situation where Nicholas wouldn't leave his trailer for unknown reasons, but the adults talked about it just enough for him to get the gist of it. It was confirmed when Nicholas smirked and crossed his arms in mock disappointment.

"Well, I would've taken you with me, dear Marinette," Nicholas said.

"Not if I don't instead," Vincent's brow rose even higher. Adrien didn't even think of the protective tone Vincent had for Marinette and instead tried to intervene in the twins' argument.

"Guys, she hasn't even responded if she wants to go with you guys or not," Adrien said, putting a hand on her shoulder. This caused Nicholas and Vincent to shoot a glance in his direction.

"Thank you for the offer, but we've just met and I don't want to hinder your work." Marinette finally spoke with her hands clasped together in front of her chest.

Nicholas sighed. "Ah well, okay."

"We have to be going so we'll see you around." Vincent bowed his head and turned to the door with Nicholas waving leisurely.

Now alone as two, Adrien remarked, "Friendly, isn't he?"

Marinette heaved a breath. "Oh, I suppose so. But it's something I'm used to, unfortunately."

He turned to her, disbelieving. She was used to guys flirting with her?

She crossed her arms, "Though, I'll admit, I am a bit sad that I said no to going with them to their photoshoot. I've never seen one before."

Scratching the back of his head absently, "If you still want to go, you could come with me," he blurted before he could even think about what he was saying. Her eyes shot to him, eyes wide.

"Are you sure? I won't be a bother?" she asked hesitantly.

He nodded, "Yeah, you won't. I mean, that is, if you're okay with spending some more time with me." He smiled awkwardly.

"I mean, I only said no to them because I don't know them that well, but… yeah! I'd love to go! It sounds fun." She clasped her hands together with her palms and fingers touching. "Ah, I better grab my things and meet you… where are you meeting your driver?"

"Oh, in the lobby." Adrien was beginning to feel like this was going to be both a bad and a good idea.

She nodded quickly, "Okay! I'll meet you in a minute!" And then she dashed off, leaving Adrien alone with his thoughts. Tapping a finger to his chin, he made his way out of the living room to the lobby, partially wondering if Crystal really didn't have any plans for Marinette for the day or if Vincent was messing with him. Normally, Vincent wasn't the type to do so since he was a rather serious guy, compared to his brother. In what did he hope to gain by inviting Marinette?

As he thought that over and completely missing the core of who Vincent was, Marinette was busy quickly packing what little things she had and changed into her clothes from the day before. Part of her was extremely happy that Adrien asked her to come and that this would have been a dream come true years ago had she still been in love with him. Now that she wasn't, it felt strange and tingly that she was doing something with the boy she once considered the love of her life. But the other part of her felt guilty that she was doing something with Adrien instead of things like she normally did with Chat. Though, things that might be considered normal isn't "normal" by regular standards. She shook her head and finished the last of her packing.

"Aren't you glad you get to spend more time with Adrien?" Tikki squeaked, popping out of the small pink bag that was strapped at her hip.

"Well, not really? I mean, I _am_ , but that was the me years ago rather than the me now." Marinette sighed, wondering what she should feel regarding this whole thing. Should she be happy? There was a part of her that _was happy_ about spending time with the rising actor, that little bit of her that still _liked_ Adrien in some fashion. But she wasn't infatuated like she had been before.

"But you still like him?" Tikki asked, sounding a little unsure.

"Yeah, I guess," Marinette shrugged half-heartedly. Though, part of her was trying to forget and forgo the feeling of guilt that ate at her for what happened last night...

Finished, she prepared herself for the future that may very well change as she knew it, both with Adrien Agreste and Chat Noir.

Downstairs, Adrien sat on the steps of the grand staircase that led to the second floor. With his chin in his palm, the other hand held the grey metallic cellphone, browsing the Web for news of anything going awry while they're away from their city. So far, it'd seem as though everything was peaceful.

For the moment.

Plagg muttered from the inside of his bag sitting beside him, popping out his head, "Aren't you glad you get to have both ladies?"

Adrien could see the waggle of the kwami's brow and decided to ignore it.

"Marinette is coming because I asked her," he defended. "That's it. We're _just_ friends."

"Uh huh, sure, whatever you say," he popped another piece of cheese into his mouth. "That's not what happened last night, though, was it?"

He immediately blushed, feeling the burn go to his ears and neck to the point of rubbing it. He shot Plagg a glare, similar to the one time he couldn't find his cell phone many years ago before it mysteriously reappeared in his bag.

"What? I'm only stating facts." Plagg bit off another piece of cheese, chewing contently before swallowing.

Adrien flicked off his phone and slid it back into his pocket. With his fingers splayed and pressed against the other, he pressed them against his chin in thought. He had been deliberately avoiding the necessity of having to think even more on his conversation with Marinette just now and why it both thrilled him and dreaded it. He didn't know what it was he was doing but he was sure that this would be his downfall somewhere in the future. It was highly unlikely that he liked Marinette that way… right?

And yet…

Plagg said something about Adrien being more popular than ever when the sound of a door closing forced the kwami back into hiding and Adrien moved to standing when Marinette exited the halls and onto the stairs.

His phone vibrated in his pocket as she descended, pulling it out to glance at the text received from his driver, and it gave notice that he had arrived. The doors swung open by two largely built men and let the driver in. He lifted Adrien's bag and glanced to Marinette's, switching gears when his eyes subtly darted to Adrien. With a vague nod, he took Marinette's bag as well and headed out with the expectation that the two would follow.

"Shall we go?" Adrien had to stop his habit, biting it down inwardly when the words of "my lady" echoed in his head right after those words. Rubbing the back of his neck, he gestured for her to go on first with him following right after.

Now comfortably seated inside the car, the television was on simply for the sake of background noise. Somehow, this sort of silence was comfortable that Adrien didn't feel pressured to converse with the future fashion designer. Her eyes were glued to the outside of the window, watching the scene fly by in a blur of color, but the further out scenery was picturesque with the sun gleaming over a pretty lake that had been just south of the mansion. Surrounded by trees and flowers of various kinds, it was the epitome of romantic.

He watched her, noting how into looking out the window had her eyes alight with wonder. Her fingers clutched together tightly, however, and it left the youth contemplating on what the reason could be for her being so tense.

Crossing his arms while leaning back in his seat, he tore his gaze reluctantly away from her, and admired absently the pretty blue sky that they drove under. It was a beautiful day and it couldn't have been more perfect.

They finally arrived at their destination and interestedly, Crystal was there to greet them with a cheerful grin. Adrien had asked her why she left them at the house if she was going to be here anyway, and she made some mention about other appointments.

Shuffled off to get ready for the shoot, Adrien led Marinette to his fitting room, where his hairstylist and costume designer were to prepare him in his get-up. She sat down on the couch in the trailer while Adrien sat in the chair to get ready.

When he was done, he had to hide his surprise at the similarities that his character for _Game of Magic_ and him had in common simply from looks alone. He only hoped that Marinette wouldn't recognize him as Chat Noir with how blatantly similar they are dressed.


End file.
